Ridiculous
by WonderfulCaricature
Summary: Elphaba knew being Eminent Thropp would come with certain expectations, but she honestly hadn't expected the worst of them to be so ridiculous.
1. Chapter 1

**Because I am trash, I wrote another thing instead of updating my other works. It's mostly just an excuse to explore the idea of Elphaba as Eminent Thropp. Fiyero and Frex are more reminiscent of the book-verse than the musical.**

 **This will only be three chapters and maybe an epilogue.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Baako, Takoda, and Yazpik are mine. Everything else was created by visionaries.**

Elphaba sat at the head of a ridiculously long and ridiculously ornate table as three ridiculous old men prattled on about a ridiculous situation. Truly, no other word than _ridiculous_ came to her mind. After all her tutoring, researching, schooling, reading, and intellectual conversations, her brilliant and well-tuned brain could only come up with _ridiculous_. She recounted past conversations with these three men, and hardly any shone a candle to what she was being forced to listen to now. Ridiculous. Nothing really came close to it when three old men talked amongst themselves, and occasionally at her, about why _she_ doesn't have a husband and who would be the best candidate to fill the spot.

No one, she thought immediately.

She had no use for a marriage, and she sure as Oz had no use for a husband. Elphaba believed herself perfectly capable of presiding over Munchkinland on her own, as she had been doing for the past five years anyway. Her advisors, however ridiculous now, had been serving her perfectly thus far. Munchkinland wasn't falling to the pits of despair, and Munchkins were no longer among the people with the highest mortality ratings. Sure, they had cut back on plenty of things; but she and her advisors had all agreed it was best for the land, and they didn't need a Master Thropp sitting in the background agreeing with them.

But the legacy, they bemoaned at the opposite end of the table. Who will carry on the Eminency when Elphaba passed? Which Thropp would ensure the good name carried on through the next generation? Surely not Nessarose. Even on the off chance she could carry a child in her condition, she couldn't marry until Elphaba did, and then it would be mostly unnecessary. It had to be Elphaba. Elphaba had to marry. Elphaba had to produce a child. Elphaba had to shoulder the burden of a legacy as she shouldered the burden of running a nation. The Thropp name had not lasted centuries for Elphaba to throw it all away, according to her advisors.

More than that, though, what would become of Munchkinland if Elphaba and Nessarose did not have children? Because the Eminent Thropp had maintained positions for centuries, Munchkinland knew no different. No heir meant Munchkinland would be scrambling to construct a new form of governance. Or worse, Emerald City would annex it, which had been a worry for the last half century or so. It was perhaps the only concern to which Elphaba extended a sympathetic ear. Munchkins, herself included most of the time, were very proud of their heritage, and their sense of regionalism rivaled the Gillikinese more often than not. If the Thropps left no heir, the Munchkins would fight tooth and nail for their sovereignty, and Elphaba knew the Gale Force would slaughter them.

A husband, Elphaba thought, would serve no other purpose than to impregnate her. She wanted neither. Munckinland politics had changed so much in the last two hundred years, why could she not adjust the line of succession? The land was full of upstanding and prestigious families who could certainly carry on the name.

It was about blood, though, as her advisors reminded her when she brought it up. There was a respectability that came along with the Thropp name, dating all the way back to the first Eminent Thropp who ascended to the throne, as it were, after consent from the former Eminent Families.

They meant well, her advisors. They meant for Munchkinland to hold its own in turbulent times, for their people to have the necessities, and for their stations to remain secure against other like advisors. But they also meant to make Elphaba do something she vehemently had no current interest in, and if she had to pick her battles, this was the one she would fight.

"All of this talk is useless," Elphaba threw in when they started discussing menstruation and whether or not she could potentially conceive before Lurlinemas. "I won't marry."

They should have been planning to host the members of the Vinkun royal families who were due to arrive in a week's time. Munchkinland recently established a Vinkun Embassy in Colwen Grounds, and the Arjiki, Scrow, and Yunamata were sending their people for its opening. These were the diplomatic issues she needed to be dealing with, especially since Munchkins so frequently threw about the term 'winkie' packed with all sorts of meanings. A Munchkinlander offending a Vinkun prince was a real possibility, and yet they sat here arguing marriage.

"Be reasonable, Elphaba," Yazpik, her spymaster (though he preferred agent of intrigue), responded.

"There's hard to find reason in three old men are bickering over what I should do with my body."

"Perhaps a pregnancy could wait," Jinjuria, her armed forces advisor, commented.

"Perhaps, he says," Elphaba scoffed, "as if it was on the table."

"It's merely politics, Elphaba," said Romen Skarr, her maternal grandfather who maintained connections with the other regions of Oz and made sure she correctly addressed the appropriate people. "To save face and ensure what's happening in Ugabu does not happen in Munkinland."

Elphaba threw an arm out incredulously, "Munchkinlanders are fighting over religion, and you want me to save face and marry some poor sod? We should be pushing for religious tolerance, not nuptials."

And again, her advisors began listing off reasons why it was necessary and beneficial for Munchkinland if Elphaba married. She was raised a Unionist—although she considered herself atheist—and any marriage outside of the faith would be considered a symbol of her toleration. If she married a socialite from Emerald City, Munchkinland would strengthen diplomatic ties with several key figures on the Palace's Financial Investment Board. If she married someone from the Gillikin, they would gain access to the country's resources and precious gem reserves. If she married someone from one of the Vinkun tribes, she could consolidate their power while also providing her assumed heir with a claim to Munchkinland and influence in the Vinkus. All three of her advisors skipped over Quadling Country, though she knew Jinjuria, her military strategist, would be fond of the militia forces the Quadlings would certainly supply.

Throughout their arguments, Yazpik had been compiling two lists. The first, everything they were saying, including Elphaba's counterarguments. The second, names of families who would prove to be good allies in the event of a marriage.

When she had retired for the night, after debating back and forth with her advisors through the evening, Elphaba was absolutely certain in her position. She was the Eminent Thropp of Munchkinland, and she was doing a damn good job at it. She didn't need a husband to tell her that. Truthfully, this topic had been the furthest thing from mind when she succeeded Peerless Thropp. Elphaba and Nessarose were never prepared for the throne. Frex knew nothing about the workings of Eminency, and if Melena had, she died long before she could tell her daughters. When Elphaba ascended, she was worried about the more immediate responsibilities. Elphaba herself was still new to the throne. She was young and had time to marry. It didn't need to be in her near future.

However, as she stared up at the canopy that hung above her bed, Elphaba's mind wandered. She had an Ugabuan among the people living in the palace. Ann was ruling Ugabu currently, but it was by no means a peaceful reign. The Wizard had begun contesting Ann's right to rule ever since she took the throne. Month after month, Yazpik brought Elphaba reports on the volley between the EC forces and Ugabu's militia. It was a long war, and Ugabu had more forces than Munchkinland could ever hope to have. Ugabu's people were more centrally located where Munchkinlanders were separated by miles and miles of farmland.

Elphaba thought of the mission trips she and Nessarose took with Frex when they were younger. The condition war and internal strife left Quadling Country in was hardly ideal; but would Munchkinland face the same fate if they attempted to go head-to-head with the Gale Forces?

It was this small seed of doubt that ruined Elphaba's resolve. Not entirely, but still enough to allow her advisors to openly discuss the topic in front of her and then, after a few days, amongst their contacts outside of the palace.

So the arrival of the first of the Vinkun families was a welcome break from the general annoyance she was coming to experience.

The Arjiki tribe was arguably the strongest among the three. They populated most parts of the Vinkus and were mostly sedentary, spare a handful of clans who migrated with the seasons. The Tigelaar clan currently held the most power within the tribe and occupied the eastern fortress at Kiamo Ko. Marilott, the Chieftain (or Prince, as the rest of Oz referred to the Vinkuns chiefs as), would stay behind, but he was sending his sons in his stead.

Elphaba stood in the front garden with her advisors and a few dignitaries as they waited for the carriage to pull up. She clasped her hands behind her back as to not fidget with the fringe of the sash at her hip or the corolla upon her head. She didn't know why she was fidgeting. It was the Tigelaars. Elphaba liked the Tigelaars. They were fine people who made her feel good. She supposed it was the lurking doom of a marriage which upset her. One of the brothers would surely have made Yazpik's list, and she feared he would pressure her to consider the visit from that viewpoint.

The brother Takoda exited first when the carriage finally pulled to a stop before them. Elphaba adored him dearly. He was one of the sweetest men she had ever encountered, and though she considered him vapid at times, she truly enjoyed his company. Takoda was peculiar to her in that he frequently went from one extreme mood to the next. One moment he would be bursting at the seams with energy, running around the gardens or chasing ducks at the pond. At the drop of a brick, he would be calm, morose even. Yazpik assured her it wasn't all that uncommon among Vinkun men. He said most men experienced mood swings like Takoda's until they participated in the Black Moon Hunt, which the royal brothers would participate in when they each turned thirty. For now, though, Takoda was cordial. He nodded to the people bowing to him and beamed when he reached Elphaba.

"Your Eminency," he greeted Elphaba properly as his brother, Fiyero, emerged from the carriage. Elphaba imagined most of the girls (and various men) in the palace were watching with their noses pressed against the windows. "You look radiant."

"It's the morning glare," Elphaba responded with a grin. "I hope your ride was all right?"

"As enjoyable as a ride can be with Fiyero," he jested.

"I happen to be excellent company," Fiyero defended himself, coming up beside his brother. He added with a bow, "Your Eminency," and pressed his lips to her proffered hand.

Elphaba fought off the urge to fidget and simply suffered through fluttering of her chest.

"You two must be exhausted," she said, leading the party inside while the Tigelaar's people unloaded the princes' things with the help of her own staff. "Master Romen will show you to your rooms, and we can meet up before dinner."

"We're to be without your company for so long?" Takoda frowned.

"Believe me," Elphaba replied, playing with the cuff of her dress, "I would much rather entertain."

Fiyero raised his brows but said nothing.

Elphaba and Yazpik stood in the foyer and watched as Fiyero and Takoda followed Romen up the grand staircase. She noticed the diamond tattoo poking out just above Fiyero's collar and the one proudly displayed on Takoda's back left hand. Neither of them had those tattoos the last time she saw them, and Elphaba wondered which task or ritual each completed to acquire it.

Yazpik, the nosy bastard, smirked at her.

"Stop looking at me like that," she snapped when she was sure they were alone. "They seem to have new tattoos each time I see them," she added as justification.

"At least one," Yazpik agreed. "Arjiki nobility will typically have a new one each season, if they're following through with tradition."

Though Takoda was a more recent friendship, Elphaba had known Fiyero for the past six years or so. She ascended to the Eminency just before the start of her second year at Shiz, but she knew him from Shiz. If he hadn't been adopted into her group of friends there, she surely would have heard of him anyway. As far as anyone knew, he was the only Vinkun enrolled at Shiz. Elphaba doubted it had anything to do with the general intelligence of the Vinkun people. They just didn't attend Shiz. The intense inclusion of each member of the tribe made it very difficult for any clan to spare a person. She wasn't sure of the circumstances around Fiyero's decision to attend Shiz, but she knew he was a unique case. Not even Takoda had the opportunity.

Anyway, Fiyero was quickly adopted into their group. Crope and Tibbett adored him in an almost patronizing way. The two of them were in the same theatre class as Pfannee, who had been dating Avaric Tenmeadows, who was the cousin of Glinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, who Boq had followed around like a lost puppy for a good nine months. And Elphaba, who had known Boq growing up, was a permanent thorn in his side during those days, and she was also the roommate of Glinda, who had some elitist friendship with Pfannee and ShenShen. Elphaba liked Boq the best. He was one of the only people who didn't crudely draw attention to her. So through their strange group of strange connections, Elphaba had been some sort of friend of Fiyero's at school.

It was mostly selfish, she thought looking back on it. If the two of them were in the same room together, people would always point and stare at him. He was a Vinkun; he was royalty; he had tattoos which were not common among the heavily Gillikinese-populated institution; and by most accounts, he was attractive. Elphaba enjoyed not being the point of focus in a room—which only lasted a little bit before she was thrust upon the Munchkinland throne.

Of all the people she met at Shiz, she thought Fiyero may have been the one she was most fortunate to meet. Elphaba felt he was easy to talk with, whether through letter or face-to-face. He understood the diplomatic frustrations she dealt with, but he could also reminisce with her if she was feeling particularly nostalgic. As the heir apparent, Fiyero spent Vinkun winters in the Emerald City, rubbing elbows with politicians and breaking bread with the elites. Most of the time, he was acquiring his own intelligence, which he would need when he took over; however, he also acted as an emissary for his parents. These were the instances when Elphaba saw him—when the Wizard would request heads of nations to meet in the Palace or something similar. Fiyero was a welcome sight among the cutthroats in finely embroidered silks and chiffons.

Elphaba glanced at Yazpik, who was studying his nails, before pressing her cool fingers to her warming cheeks. She was being frivolous. There were documents to read, Munchkins to hear out, and relationships to mend. She couldn't spend her time pondering her ties to Fiyero.

Jin was already waiting in Eminency's office when Elphaba and Yazpik made it there, and Romen was not too far behind. He grumbled about Takoda's quick mood swings and wondered aloud if a union between the Thropps and any member of the Arjiki royal family would be worth it. Romen was the eldest among her advisors, and, despite their relations, the one she knew least. Yazpik had always been an outlier in her life, and she suspected it had to do with her previous title of 3rd Thropp Descending. Jin was a close friend and pupil of Frex's. Her earliest memories of him came from those days just after Melena passed when Jin sought a more intimate relationship with the Unnamed God. Frex had been the nearest Unionist to teach him, and from what she recalled, they were fast friends.

Under different circumstances, Elphaba didn't think she would have ever wished to know Romen Skarr. Melena had run away when she was young to marry Frex, a commoner and Unionist, everything the Thropps were not. Elphaba wasn't sure Romen had ever forgiven Melena for it, considering the grief Melena's mother experience lead to her own early death. Elphaba's father claimed he didn't want to leave Rush Margins because of his practice, but she firmly believed Frex lived outside of Colwen Grounds because of Romen's open hostility. Elphaba loved her father dearly, and part of her resented Romen for being the reason Frex rarely visited. But Romen was also a brilliant diplomat. He had acted as a courtier under Peerless Thropp, and Elphaba had considered him an excellent candidate for her own official cabinet. He knew the politics better than she ever could, and Romen acted as a tutor for her in the early years of her reign. He was an Oz awful grandfather, but he was indispensable as an advisor.

"I've written to several families throughout Oz," Yazpik started when Romen's grumbles stopped.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, something she was only allowed to do when in the company of her advisors and behind closed doors. She was constantly reminded that it wasn't something nobility did.

"We'll host a banquet. We can masquerade it as a celebration."

"And what would we be celebrating?" Jin asked, looking through a field report he had brought with him.

"Elphaba's youth. Munchkinland's greenery. The bloody mole on your cheek. I don't care," Yazpik responded shortly. "Nobles don't need a reason to drink someone else's wine and eat food provided for them."

"You won't be required to make a proposal," Romen added, to which Yazpik begrudgingly agreed. "We'd prefer you see it as a chance to get to know potential candidates."

"The last thing we want is for the rest of Oz to think we're desperate for you to find a match."

"But we are, aren't we?" Elphaba commented.

"No, not desperate, but we place it as a priority," Romen corrected. "We'll address a few letters personally, and you'll need to sign them as if you were the one inviting these men for a visit. I'll deal with the families." He handed a list of invitees to Elphaba.

She noted that many of the women on the list were either married, betrothed, or not interested in men. As long as Colwen Grounds kept the libations flowing, none of these guests would sense the ulterior motive her advisors had for inviting them.

"You make it sounds like I'm picking out a new steed," Elphaba said after a while of pondering the list and just how ridiculous she still considered all of this.

"You've said yourself that a husband would be nothing more than an accessory for you."

"That doesn't mean I'm very fond of accessorizing."

They spent a good hour discussing when the best time would be to invite these people to wine and dine within the palace. Her three advisors agreed it would be best if it was done when they had the Vinkuns under the roof as well. Some of them were eligible candidates, and Romen wanted to capitalize on that. He also thought Colwen Grounds could use their visit as an excuse for a banquet. They could frame it as a celebration of good Vinkun and Munchkinland relations. It would also make Ozians wonder if there was a deeper connection with the Vinkus, which would have other Ozian noble families vying for a seat at Elphaba's side.

This was all a game, and Elphaba seemed to be the prize. None of it sat well with her.

She didn't officially call their meeting to an end, but Elphaba did excuse herself without giving her advisors a reason or an order to wait for her return. Snatching up the fabric of her skirt, she quickly hurried down the corridors which lead away from the office.

It was nothing more than a banquet, she reminded herself. Elphaba wouldn't need to decide her future in one night, and considering their earlier insistence, her advisors were somewhat lax in their decision to allow her time. There had to be eligible nobles who were bearable. If she was lucky, and she used that word loosely, she could find someone friendly enough and who could get her pregnant on their wedding night. Then she would have the husband and heir, and her legacy would no longer be an topic of conversation.

Elphaba made a noise of disgust just thinking about it. Although she had never considered having a marriage and an offspring, she was having trouble putting it in a scientific and diplomatic perspective. It was just so cold, Elphaba thought. For all her parents' troubles and affairs, she never grew up in a household without love. Frex and Melena loved each other on some level. Frex loved his children. And while the memory of him was somewhat faint at this point, the Quadling Turtle Heart brought a lot of free love into the household. She didn't want to be shackled in a loveless marriage, but she also didn't want to marry before she was ready.

Yazpik had once told her, her personal decisions were no longer her own, nor were they personal anymore. Every dress she wore, every person she smiled or frowned at, every small detail of her actions and appearance meant something for Munchkinland. She was a symbol of the region, and her choices reflected Munchkinland's position. If she was selfish about her desires, what would that mean for Munchkinland? How would Munchkinlanders, who often married young and for life, view themselves in relation to the crown if their Eminency couldn't be bothered to even host the idea of a marriage? Elphaba struggled with her relationship to her country constantly. Individuality had no place in politics, and she had yet to master the art of working behind the masque of propriety.

She was talking herself through the idea of marriage when Fiyero found her. He was dictating something to a scribe and passed by the corridor she was walking down. Elphaba heard his steps fade before he reappeared behind her.

"Isn't it against some rule for you to be unattended?" he asked, offering his arm.

Elphaba folded her hands together.

"I am the Eminent Thropp. Surely I'm entitled to my own roaming."

"You look like you're hiding."

She sighed, walking into the back gardens after the doorman held it open for her.

"My legacy has become a topic as of late, the little heiresses and heirs kind," Elphaba confided once they were in the safety of the hedges. She knew the gardens like the back of her hand. "Most likely because of the worsening situation in Ugabu."

"Hereditary positions typically are topics of conversation among rulers with no heirs."

"Well, not now," she interjected. "I have none now, but in time, when I'm ready, sure."

Fiyero made a noncommittal noise. Elphaba knew he understood the position her advisors were taking against her wishes, but she also knew he wouldn't counter whatever argument Elphaba made as he and Takoda had yet to make matches. Not for the Arjiki's lack of trying either. She never asked Fiyero or Takoda about it, but Elphaba heard something kept the matches away despite the princes' good humor and looks.

"You say nothing now, but when it's your head on the chopping block, I'm sure you'll be full of arguments."

"It's just a diplomatic union," Fiyero said, sounding an awful lot like her advisors. "You don't have to love the man."

"But I want to love the man I marry!" Elphaba retorted exasperatedly, though instantly blushing when she remembered her company and the setting of this talk. "Pardon me," she added as more of an afterthought. "I sound like a silly teenager, romanticizing notions of love and partnership." She babbled on, "I _should_ be figuring out how to keep the different religious factions in Munchkinland happy while also making sure the Unionists aren't being slaughtered without Munchkinlanders accusing me of playing favorites. Instead my advisors have me hosting a bloody banquet to celebrate our good relations with the Vinkus when in reality it's merely to scout out the fresh meats they can skewer beside me for their rest of my life. With the skeevy ulterior motives abound, nonetheless."

"Naturally," he replied, causing Elphaba's blush to deepen.

"I'm sorry: I shouldn't have said any of that," she apologized, taking a sharp right turn that Fiyero nearly missed.

"I promise I won't tell anyone your diplomacy dinner is actually a chance for you to speed date," Fiyero chuckled.

"I feel like a piece of meat already. Which noble will pay the most to fine dine? Who'll pay the butcher off to get the best cut?"

"Elphaba, you're far more valuable than a piece of meat," Fiyero responded, and Elphaba felt a heavy weight upon her chest again. "This is all a game, sure, but you hold all the cards."

"You underestimate my advisors," she huffed.

Fiyero took Elphaba's hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow, leading her to the left. Elphaba allowed herself to be lead, but she had to constantly tell herself not to take control. Especially when she knew he was heading towards a dead end. They could just stroll, she thought. She had so little time to stroll the gardens lately, let alone with a friend.

And truth be told, Elphaba enjoyed Fiyero's company more than most. She felt like she could talk with him in ways she didn't even talk to Glinda in. He understood the necessity of frugality and the burden of prominence. More than that, when he looked at her, Elphaba didn't feel the need to present herself as larger than she was or to cave in on herself. She could just simply be there. It was a relief not to have to be anything other than what she was, a green and rambling girl with more opinions than filters. Although, Elphaba supposed it helped that her first memory of Fiyero was him sobbing on the floor in front of the life science class. It really nipped any later intimidation she may have felt in the bud.

Their walk in silence did not last nearly as long as Elphaba would have liked. Fiyero picked up on the intrusion first, craning his neck ever so slightly to peer at something Elphaba could not see. Well, admittedly, she was far more intrigued by the tattoos which disappeared under his collar. She blushed violently and looked the other way when Fiyero caught her.

Thankfully—though, perhaps she was not too thankfully—Yazpik appeared at the end of the row they were currently in. He stood lazily with his hands at his side and glanced this way and that while he waited for them.

Yazpik was the youngest of her advisors, though he was not young. Elphaba knew she was supposed to naturally be confident in her advisors, but she truly believed there was no better intelligence agent than Yazpik. He couldn't have been much older than Frex, but he had probably seen and experienced things far beyond Elphaba's imagination. Yazpik knew who to contact, when to contact them, and just the right thing to say to manipulate the outcome.

He was the one who found her immediately after Peerless Thropp passed. She had been in the library at Shiz, down one of the aisles and looking for a particular title. When she went back to her table, Yazpik was standing over her material, skimming through it. Had she not seen him from time to time in her youth, Elphaba's not sure how she would have reacted. Yazpik was an intimidating man, merely from their air he gave off, but his worn in appearance added to the effect. Growing up, Elphaba remembered him to wear his hair twisted up in a loose bun with a band keeping the strays away from his face. When he arrived at Shiz, and every day since then, Yazpik wore it down with a strip of leather keeping half of it tied. How he styled his hair or wore his clothes didn't matter, though, Elphaba would have recognized his visible scars anywhere.

Glinda was quite taken with Elphaba's spymaster. She could go on about her crush over him until Elphaba was all but begging her to stop. Perhaps when he was younger, Yazpik may have been considered attractive. Or he could very well be attractive to someone who didn't know what lengths Yazpik would go to uncover information. But when Elphaba looked at Yazpik, all she saw was her people and the responsibilities that came with having a man such as Yazpik at her side.

Responsibilities which she would be thrusted back into after a moment's escape with Fiyero.

"I beg your pardon, highnesses," Yazpik bowed when the two were before him. "I hate to interrupt your stroll."

"Oh, don't lie, Yazpik," Elphaba teased. "You were waiting for the most inopportune moment."

"I'm sorry to have kept her away, Master Yazpik," Fiyero said sincerely.

Yazpik nodded to Fiyero as the latter took his leave.

"You should not be unchaperoned," Yazpik chided when Fiyero was gone. "We've talked about this."

"I'm hardly at fault if a member of the staff sees me without proper company and decides to leave me be. If the people you hire to watch me go and leave me to my own devices, that's your problem," Elphaba replied. "Besides, were we not just discussing your plans to marry me off? I'm perusing the stock."

"You know very well Prince Fiyero is not an option."

"Sarima fought the system to claim her chiefdom," Elphaba argued, more for the sake of argument than any desire to marry Fiyero.

"Sarima is the chieftain of the smallest tribe in the Vinkus, not the sovereign of a nation. And she's only in such as position until her son matures and reclaims the title."

"You spoil everything, Yazpik," she grunted as he held the door open for her.

Had the threat of a union not been looming in her future, Elphaba would have thought the days leading up to the banquet passed with relative ease. Her days were mostly split between holding audiences and meeting privately with rival farms to attempt settlements (which rarely worked but were typically civil). Yazpik allowed her to continue strolling through the gardens with Fiyero when she desired, but her spymaster was always several feet behind them. And as if to drive his point, Yazpik also included Takoda, who was eligible for marriage should Elphaba decide she wanted the other brother.

The representatives from the Yunamata and Scrow arrived within an hour of each other a few days after the Arjikis arrived. Baako, the heir apparent of the Yunamata came with his mother, his mother's lover, and his mother's sister who was also his father's lover. Yazpik had warned Elphaba ahead of time that relations were different when you ventured further west. It was not uncommon for a clan to be torn apart because of the entangling alliances. Fiyero added that as long as a heir was born, most Vinkuns weren't concerned with private sexual matter. Elphaba balked but said nothing. She also said nothing to betray her emotions when the Yunamata party arrived, as she silently noted the similarities between Baako and his mother's lover.

Before Elphaba had the chance to check on all members of the Yunamata delegation, the Scrow arrived in four large and rickety caravans. They had all the staff of the palace on alert and running around like headless chickens. Sarima, unlike the others, had not been entirely truthful with Yazpik in her letters. She had told him she would be coming with the most important of her camp; however, upon arrival, it appeared as if she had brought the entire camp with her. One of Jin's scouts had been the first to see the party and nearly wore his horse out trying to reach Colwen Grounds in time. Yazpik, ever at the ready, sectioned off a large area in the woods belonging to the estate, and several neighboring residences offered to host members of the Scrow party if needed. All of this was done before Sarima stepped out of her caravan.

At times, Elphaba felt like a child in the company of the others. Not because of age or intelligence, of course, but she felt antsy. She would see Fiyero, Baako, and Sarima laughing in the library as she passed on her way to the throne room. Or she would see them out running in the gardens or fields while she sat and listened to her advisors' reports. Before ascension, she had never been barred from doing as she pleased. Although, to be fair, most situations were not welcoming of Elphaba; but if she wanted to, she was still allowed to assert herself. Now, though, she was a symbol of freedom and power, but every move was deliberately controlled.

Her first day free from report obligations and audiences was the day the embassy was to be opened. The three Vinkun leaders were already up when Elphaba's staff deemed her appropriately bathed, dressed, and styled. She was fidgeting with the velvet band around her waist and reading a letter from Glinda when she heard a peal of laughter coming from the East Wing's parlor.

"If you want to do anything in town," Jin was saying as they neared the room, "Yazpik will have an agent ready to do a switch."

"That won't be necessary," Elphaba replied, glancing at the parlor somewhat distracted. "But I appreciate the thought." She paused. "Perhaps we could invite my father and sister for dinner tonight?"

Jin looked over at the parlor doors and bowed slightly, telling Elphaba he would find someone to retrieve them. He gave her a small wink while Elphaba asked the staff to open the parlor doors for her.

Fiyero jumped anxiously to his feet when the doors opened, which caused Sarima and Baako to giggle like schoolchildren.

"Your Eminency!" Sarima greeted. "I hope we did not disturb you. We've just found out Prince Fiyero is the ticklish sort, and Baako and I are quite intent on making him squeal."

Sarima was a short woman who would have fit well among the Munchkinlanders if not for the tattoos decorating her arms and chest. Romen detested her, but Elphaba admired Sarima's passion and drive. Even if that passion and drive centered around obtaining power. Sarima had grown up nomadic with an Arjiki mother and Yunamata father, who both died in Scrow territory. According to Fiyero, Sarima jumped from camp to camp with mercenaries until she was thirteen when she found herself working as an assassin's contact. The assassin apparently set her up with a small flat in Kvon Altar until it was ransacked by Quadling pirates—which Elphaba had never heard of—and Sarima shacked up with their captain until she somehow managed to convince the Scrow's chieftain to eradicate the band. Since then, she married the chieftain, became a mother, then a widow, and was currently Chief Regent for the next ten years. Elphaba was sure the entire story was utterly fascinating, and she truly wished to hear it sometime.

"Oh, you're no bother at all," Elphaba told them.

"Fiyero, sit down, you're being odd," Baako laughed.

"I hope you've all settled in well?" Elphaba asked, hesitating to approach them.

"This palace is absolutely grand and comfortable," Sarima assured her. She added to one of the Vinkuns' attendants, "Be a peach and fetch a pot for all of us, will you? I'd be ever so grateful, Master Attendant."

"Right away, mum," the boy responded and ducked out quickly.

Elphaba settled into the armchair Fiyero offered. She didn't know why she was so nervous being in their company.

"I must say, your Eminence," Sarima started, "I find it strange your father and sister don't live in palace with you. You must be very lonely all by yourself."

"My father preferred to stay in Rush Margins. It's not so far from here, though, and he visits when he can," Elphaba repeated the diplomatic line she had practiced so many times with Yazpik. It was far easier than explaining her family history. "And it's not so lonely here. I have my advisors and attendants, and we have company coming and going all year."

"But still a little lonely?"

"Don't goad her, Sarima," Fiyero chastised. "Sarima is terribly bored unless she hears new gossip."

Sarima shrugged, "I confess, I hate to be a part of it; but I will be in the first row to watch it. I blame having five sisters."

Elphaba struggled not to gawk. She could hardly imagine having one child, and Sarima's mother had six? Good Oz.

"Five sisters?" Elphaba asked.

"Ah, yes," Sarima giggled and waited as the tea was served. Vinkuns preferred tea to coffee. "We separated for a while, but my late husband was very kind and found them for me as a wedding gift."

When Sarima lowered her gaze to her teacup, Fiyero ever so slightly cocked his head in Baako's direction with a quick brow raise. The movement did not go unnoticed by Baako, who gave a Fiyero a scowl, but Elphaba didn't detect much heat behind the look.

Fiyero and Baako had grown up with each other. She knew Fiyero trusted Baako like a brother, and in the small moments she saw the two of them together, it seemed Baako held Fiyero in similar regard. Back at Shiz, Elphaba remembered Fiyero telling their group about Arjiki winters in the Thousand Year Grasslands and how, year round, Baako's clan welcomed the Tigelaars with festivals and feasts. In return, Baako's clan had a signed agreement of Kiamo Ko aid whenever the need fell.

According to Yazpik, the Tigelaars benefitted from a similar arrangement with the Scrow—who welcomed them for a month on the way to and from Kiamo Ko. The Arjiki's strength of numbers, their stronghold Kiamo Ko, and the deeply loyal alliances with the Yunamata and Scrow made them the de facto leaders of the Vinkus, with the Tigelaar's heading the nation. And although it was universally understood, most leaders did not discuss it openly, even if the Arjiki were typically the only Vinkuns invited to diplomatic talks.

"I should probably be going," Elphaba said after talking with Sarima about their different experiences with sisters. At times, she felt Sarima thought it some competition. She seemed set on either telling a happier or sadder story to whatever Elphaba laid down. Elphaba took great care to remain amicable and not needlessly remind Sarima that at least she was not green. "My advisors will never cease to complain if I don't adhere to schedule."

"Of course," Sarima agreed, rising to her feet with the others. "I would be terribly depressed, Eminency, if us women did not have tea before we're each whisked back to reality."

"And the palace would be terribly upset if you were to leave here any bit of depressed."

"Do you need an escort?" Fiyero asked as Elphaba moved to leave.

"I don't," she responded immediately. She truly missed the days when no one asked her or reminded her she was not to wander alone. "But I wouldn't mind your company," Elphaba added.

She regretted her word choice almost as soon as it left her mouth. The back of her neck grew warm, and she felt like the tips of her ears were on fire. Fiyero muttered something in response which caused Baako to snicker, but Elphaba's mind was too busy berating her own comment to take in Fiyero's. Elphaba took a moment to collect herself while Fiyero excused himself to the other two. She was the Eminent Thropp for fuck's sake.

The blame, Elphaba thought, was on the ridiculous banquet. It had her mind fuddled, so she sought out the only sane company in the palace. Jin, naturally. But since he was frequently occupied, Fiyero took his place. It was hardly her fault if Fiyero's head was screwed on more soundly than her staff or other advisors'. She had to get all of it out of her system before the horde of social ladder climbers ruined the palace with their overly expensive cologne and bathing oils. There was no way Yazpik or Romen would allow Elphaba to spend her free time in Fiyero's company when they supplied her with a legion of lustful lemmings.

They had only made it two corridors before Romen and Jin found her. Elphaba supposed it was better than running into Yazpik. She hadn't had enough caffeine to deal with the chastising look he would undoubtedly have given her. Romen, who quite liked Fiyero as he believed the prince to be a levelheaded Vinkun, merely turned his attention back to a roll of parchment in his hands. And Jin, bless him, lead Romen back towards the throne room. He wasn't as adept as Romen and Yazpik at diplomacy or nobility etiquette, but Elphaba appreciated it tenfold. Jin had a way of convincing the others, barring Yazpik, that a little alone time for the Eminent Thropp would hardly be the end of the world. He would remind everyone, someone was always a whisper away, and her three advisors had ensured the Colwen Grounds Estate was the safest place in Oz for Elphaba.

Officially opening the Vinkun Embassy went exactly as everyone expected. Nothing significant happened. There were a few mumbles in the crowd of _winkie_ before the nobility arrived, but Elphaba's people kept their manners and composure while Vinkuns present let the comments pass. Elphaba gave a short speech crafted by Romen, and the Vinkuns in the crowd seemed to receive it welcomingly. It was truly as menial as any diplomatic task was.

Elphaba found herself seeking out Fiyero throughout the pomp and circumstance, though. While Romen gave his own speech, she sent Fiyero a glance to discover she already had his attention. He stood beside her as the four leaders posed for a photograph, and she felt her stomach burst when he rested his hand on the small of her back. It was such an intimate gesture, one she was hardly familiar with. And when Romen and Yazpik allowed those in attendance to greet their Eminency and chieftains, Fiyero was never more than a twig toss away.

"I heard Frexspar and Nessarose are coming to dinner," Fiyero said as the crowd began to thin.

"My father loves traditional Vinkun food," Elplhaba explained. She added a little more boldly, "And Nessa would never forgive me if she didn't get the chance to meet you."

"Me?" he laughed.

"Of course. All she has to go on is what I say of you. It's probably better for her to have a less biased opinion of you."

"And what opinions do you have of me to sway her?"

Elphaba smiled at a couple of Munchkins who were waving excitedly at the pair of them.

She didn't exactly lie to him. Frex did love Vinkun food. She remembered countless times when her father would try to make them a spread, but he always managed to fall short of the taste. Colwen Grounds didn't get Vinkun visitors very often, less much ones who Romen deemed worthy of a traditional meal. And Nessarose had a base knowledge of who Fiyero was, but anything she knew wasn't from Elphaba herself. Any glowing praise she had for Fiyero, Elphaba surely didn't gab to her sister. Nessa could be trusted for certain tasks, but she was a terrible gossip. Not to mention, as Glinda had put it from time to time, an awful bore.

It was doubtful Frex and Nessa would arrive for dinner any earlier than an hour beforehand. Elphaba had invited them too late, and their home was a good ride away from Colwen Grounds. That being said, Elphaba had time to kill between the time she and the Vinkuns arrived back at the palace and her family's arrival. She immediately regretted foregoing a chance to mill around the village. Romen and Yazpik rarely let her foot it, and Elphaba was still learning to cherish the moments were she was able to.

Instead, Elphaba retreated to her private library. Her father had sent her over some new materials last month that she had yet to read. Frex collected them from travelers who came through town. He always offered them a place to stay if they could provide him with payment, whether that be coin or not. Typically, he asked for a book and was rewarded with such. Nessa told her, too, that Frex would snatch up a new book whenever a merchant had a copy. Although their father had never said it aloud, Elphaba had heard enough of her mother to know she most likely inherited her interest in reading from Frexspar.

Elphaba was thumbing through one of the titles when an attendant knocked on the door.

"Your Eminency," he greeted after she gave permission to enter, "Chieftain Regent Sarima of the Scrow."

"She may enter," Elphaba replied.

The attendant bowed and allowed Sarima to pass. Sarima let out a low and impressed whistle when as she looked around the room. Elphaba noted the package in her hands.

"This is quite the collection, Your Eminency," she commented.

"Thank you," Elphaba answered with a proud smile. "I inherited most of it from Peerless, but everything over there is what I've collected," she added, motioning to the wall between two of her windows. "My father helps a lot, too."

"My late husband was teaching me to read when he passed," Sarima said. Elphaba kept her face still despite being surprised Sarima couldn't read. "When you grow up as I have, you don't have much time to spend learning reading, writing, or needlepoint."

"I'm terrible at needlepoint as well," Elphaba told her. Sarima grinned. "My father is an avid lifelong learner. I can't imagine what my life would be like if he hadn't encourage me."

Elphaba offered her favorite armchair to Sarima.

Sarima told told her, "I had so many chances to live a different life, but it seems I was always destined to be at head of a Vinkun clan," which Elphaba thought was on odd thing to say.

Something in Elphaba wondered if Sarima felt compelled to discuss herself in a way to compensate for internal feelings of inadequacy. Although, Elphaba felt wholly inadequate most days, but she didn't see any need to tell people how great her status was. Nevertheless, Elphaba remained silent and took a seat across from Sarima.

"I was betrothed to Fiyero from a very young age. Our mothers had been very close, you see. Did he not tell you?" Sarima asked after Elphaba's brows furrowed.

"Why would he tell me?" Elphaba responded, recovering her composure quickly.

Sarima waved her off. "My sisters and I even had a place in Kiamo Ko when my parents passed, but I was so headstrong. I was not going to be grounded in a castle when I had been so used to traveling across the Vinkus. How can you cage someone so used to freedom? So I ran to the first mercenary troop I found. I was small and quick: there was never a problem finding work for me. There I was playing mercenary, and I hadn't spared one for my sisters' wellbeing. Is that selfish of me?"

"Yes, I believe so," she replied, immediately thinking of Nessarose.

Her companion laughed, "I appreciate your honesty. I think part of me had assumed they'd be at Kiamo Ko, but I hadn't realized they couldn't be there if I wasn't."

"Where were they?" Elphaba asked, thoroughly interested.

Sarima shrugged, "They don't like to talk about it, and my late husband never said where he found them." She paused for a moment, considering. "I imagine their position wasn't entirely so great if they came with my late husband so willingly."

"Or they could simply have been intrigued at the thought of a reunion."

"Perhaps," she agreed. "Anyway, I didn't come to bore you with tales of my past," Sarima went on. "I brought you a gift for your hospitality. My vizier told me it's customary among nobility."

She offered Elphaba the package she had been picking at in her lap. It was heavy, Elphaba noted. Obviously a book, but one heavier than any in her private library or Colwen Ground's public one. Sarima explained that she had found it in a trunk of her late husband's things when they first married. She had been a nosy bride and began snooping one night when she stumbled across it. Apparently someone had stolen it from somewhere in the Vinkus. Sarima's husband had acquired it, but the thief died before the dead Scrow could get the information from him.

The book seemed to hum when Elphaba removed the paper covering. Elphaba thought it was probably the oldest book she had ever laid eyes on and most certainly the oddest book. If the _humming_ hadn't done it, the words on the pages most certainly did. They danced and swirled on their appropriate page like someone had enchanted them. She understood a word or phrase here and there, but for the most part looking at the text was like trying to recall a dream that was rapidly escaping.

"What's it called?" Elphaba asked, flipping through pages to find the same effect.

"Oh, Lurline knows," Sarima chuckled. "I can't make heads or tails of the damned thing."

Elphaba had an idea of what it could be, but she didn't think Yazpik would want her to have it, let alone tell others she did. A spell book. It had to be. The energy it emitted was something akin to the ones Madame Morrible had in her office—though much more gripping.

"I'm sorry if it's a bad gift. I don't suppose there's much use for a book with dancing words."

"No, it's lovely," Elphaba assured her. "Learning whatever language this is will give a personal task. I greatly appreciate this, Sarima."

"I'm glad, Your Eminency."

"Please, call me Elphaba."

Sarima left her alone after a few more minutes of talking about seemingly meaningless things. They mainly discussed how well each of them thought the embassy opening went, and then Sarima strayed into comments on the other members of the Vinkun delegation. The Vinkun was hardly dull, and Elphaba knew she had probably heard whispers that Elphaba was to be seeking a husband. Elphaba got the distinct impression Sarima was trying to suss out who among the Vinkun men were being considered.

When Sarima left, Elphaba ordered the attendant to turn away anyone else who came by. Then, thinking on it, she asked him to just pretend like she wasn't there. Just her luck, Yazpik would come by when she was too invested in the book to respond quickly.

By the time her family arrived, she hadn't made any progress in the book. Well, she thought she could pronounce one phrase; but without any real knowledge of the language she was attempting to read, she couldn't even say that with confidence. The tips of her fingers had begun to tingle dully from continuously drumming them on the desk, and Elphaba felt an oncoming throbbing in her head. She wondered if a court sorceress or sorcerer would be more beneficial than a husband. Yazpik would say no.

"Your Eminency," the attendant knocked from the other side of the door.

Elphaba closed her eyes and took a deep breath as not to snap at the poor staffer. It wasn't his fault she couldn't read the spell book.

"I'll be right there."

Elphaba was always allowed to greet Frex and Nessa in the privacy of her parlor, so she could greet them with a hug instead of them kissing her hand and bowing. That's the way it went for the first several times they visited after her ascension, but Elphaba continuously disobeyed her advisors and embraced her family the moment she saw them. So Romen started showing the Thropps into a private room where Elphaba was able to act with a little more free will.

So after hiding the spell book deep in her desk, Elphaba quickly strode through the corridors to reach the room. She hadn't realized how long it had been since she last saw them or how deeply she missed them until she had to close those last few steps between her and the door.

"Father!" Elphaba greeted the moment she passed the threshold. She hugged Frexspar tightly, relishing the familiarity and stability she associated with him.

"Nessarose had a prior engagement," Frex explained after Elphaba inquired. "How are you, Fabala?" he asked.

"Better now you're here," Elphaba responded. "We have a large Vinkun delegation visiting, so the kitchen has prepared a feast of traditional Vinkun food."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Frex said with a hand on his stomach.

"Yes, in fact, Yazpik is quite hoping one of the Vinkuns finds it doubly so." She continued when, as anticipated, Frex looked confused, "he has an agenda. He and Romen are pushing for a marriage."

"A marriage?" Frex asked incredulously.

"They are growing increasingly concerned about my affairs."

"I thought it was against the Wizard's word for heads of state to wed each other."

"It is," she confirmed, "but Takoda—the Tigelaar's youngest—is eligible. Sarima, the Scrow's Chieftain, brought her entire camp, which must have at least one. And who knows what the Yunamata can scrounge up."

"If you don't want to get married, Elphaba, don't marry. As far as I know, there's nothing in the Munchkinland constitution requiring you to."

"I can't let our people down, Father," Elphaba replied quietly.

"Let the Munchkinlanders down? Fabala…"

Frexspar grasped her shoulders gently, and Elphaba felt transported back to her childhood. When she would fret over something or other, and Frexspar would begin a series of endless questions to figure out why she thought in such a way. The older she got, the more she realized he did it for her benefit. So she could talk herself through it. Despite knowing this, she immediately and willingly fell into the pattern. If anything, she reminded herself later, it was a comfort knowing Frexspar would never change. She could count on him to be her father whether she was Elphaba Thropp, the green gangly girl, or Her Eminent Thropp, leader of Munchkinland.

Fiyero was outside of the room when Frex and Elphaba emerged just before dinner. The Vinkun was pacing and gesticulating wildly to himself. His arms sharply retreated to a clasped position behind his back when the door opened, but it was a second too late. If Frex noticed, though—which he surely did—he mentioned nothing to Elphaba or gave Fiyero any indication he had. He merely nodded to Elphaba before the latter came up to introduce himself, which Elphaba knew her father would consider a bold move. Frex may not have grown up learning proper etiquette, but he had been exposed to it long enough to know Ozian nobility typically called for a third party diplomat to introduce them.

"Master Frexspar," Fiyero smiled, offering his hand for a shake, which Frex accepted. "Fiyero Tigelaar of the Arjiki tribe."

"Your Highness," Frex bowed low.

"I wanted to greet you and Miss Nessarose personally."

"Ah, I'm afraid Nessa had a prior engagement she could not shake off. Perhaps another time, if it pleases your Highness."

"Well, I won't turn down the chance to spend more time at Colwen Grounds."

Her father hummed, and Elphaba noted some of the color seemed to drain from Fiyero's face. She imagined if she took his hand, it would be clammy. Elphaba pulled at the sleeves of her dress, feeling the skin of her arms raise.

"I trust your stay has been enjoyable thus far?" Frex asked while offering his arm to Elphaba. "Romen prides himself on welcoming company graciously."

"His pride is well placed," Fiyero agreed. "I've never felt more comfortable outside of the Vinkus."

"Quite a bold claim," Frex commented cordially, but Elphaba knew her father's tones well enough to detect the coolness to his words.

"I don't see the point in denying it. The officials in Munchkinland have been nothing short of open to stability between our nations. Colwen Ground's staff have been nothing short of generous to me, my brother, and my countrymen. And the Munchkinlanders have been nothing short of kind and considerate."

"This surprises me." Frex frowned slightly.

"Why's that, Master Frexspar?"

"Munchkinlanders are notoriously prejudice against Vinkuns. Most grow up knowing _Winkie_ and _Winkie Country_ long before ever being taught the proper terms. Though relatively more conscious of their company, Munchkins in Colwen Grounds are no exception."

"Father," Elphaba warned.

"It doesn't bother me," Fiyero assured them both as they all turned down the corridor which lead to the dining hall. "A fear of the unknown breeds hostility, in my opinion. Munchkins and Vinkuns have been separated for decades over small scuffles and past skirmishes few remember the cause or effect of. My own people are hardly innocent in name calling, but I think it's an ignorance that is not without hope."

If Yazpik were with them, Elphaba guessed, he would caution them against hope. He didn't think hope did anyone any good. Hoping for something was a good as waiting around for fortune to show up at your doorstep with a bow and smile. Cynicism ran deep in Yazpik's veins, but Elphaba thought there was some truth to his mindset.

Romen and Yazpik had drawn the table settings, Elphaba thought immediately upon seeing where everyone fell to. As custom, she took the head of the table with her father on her right, and Romen sat at the end of the same side. Between them were the prominent members of the Scrow delegation. Takoda was seated immediately to her left with Baako and his mother separating Fiyero from them. Frex made no effort to hide his surprise at seeing the younger Arjiki standing across from him. The rest of the Yunamata party were to Fiyero's left, and Jin closed off the setting.

Yazpik would dine with the staff, as he preferred. Though, Elphaba had heard from a few of the staff that Yazpik didn't even eat with them. It was one of the reasons Colwen Grounds residents thought he was part devil. They said the only sustenance the spymaster needed to live was the secrets of others. Romen and Jin alluded to it every now and then, and more often than not, their words earned a crack of a smile from Yazpik.

The seating arrangement didn't bother her as much it did Frex that Takoda was the one who Yazpik and Romen decided to seat so close to her. The two of them could press the match until they were a breath from the grave, and Elphaba would still refuse to pick Takoda. What concerned her, though, was whatever mood he would be in that evening. Frex was as patient as any person, but he didn't know of the dramatic mood swings the Arjiki were accustomed to. He was also terrible at concealing his opinions or emotions when they came on a whim, and Frexspar wasn't in a position where he had to constrain himself like Elphaba. It was this oversight on her advisors' part that bothered Elphaba.

Takoda, it seemed, took notice of the seating arrangement, too. His brow furrowed for a split second when he saw his placard. No longer than a blink, but one that Elphaba and Frexspar did not miss. Takoda adapted quickly, though, as Elphaba knew him to do. His confusion was replaced by bemusement as he slowly moved his gaze around the table. He kept it up as Elphaba recited the small welcome Romen had given her to memorize. Toward the end of her speech, Takoda rocked back on his heels and grinned widely at Fiyero.

"You know," Takoda started when they all sat down, "this all feels like a family dinner at Lurlinemas time."

"Assuming the old folk tales are true," Frex responded, "we're all related tens of generations down the line anyway."

"Unless anyone of the Munchkinlanders here descended from the Gillikin line," Takoda said, nodding at the staff member who offered him wine.

Frexspar made a noise, impressed. "You know the intricacies of Ozian mythology."

"Fiyero and I are well educated in the classics, common etiquette, art, music, and—I kid you not—needlepoint."

"You sound like fine Gillikinese noblewomen," Elphaba commented.

"It's a wonder you have any time to hone your hunting and trapping skills," Frex added.

Takoda laughed, "All those tales are fabricated," he said and earned a small upturned quick of the lip from Frexspar. "Vinkuns hate the wilderness. Too gross. Too dirty."

"You are quite an interesting individual, Master Takoda."

Elphaba sat back in her chair as Takoda and Frex delved into a discussion over Gillikin mythology later when the first course was being taken away. She caught Jin's stare from the other side of the table. He winked at her and then turned his attention back to Baako's mother's lover. Directly above him, Yazpik stood in the galley and watched the dinner like it was a show. He was gripping the bannister with a smug look on his face. Smugness was one of the only emotions Elphaba knew Yazpik to so willingly display. It was a diversion tactic, Romen told her. If Yazpik was smug, people thought he was overestimating himself or had gotten his desired result. Yazpik was the master deceiver, and smugness was his merely a trick of the trade. In the gallery, her spymaster smiled, and that threw Elphaba off. She took her eyes off of him for a second to see where he had been looking, but nothing distinct among her guests stood out; and when she returned her gaze to the gallery, Yazpik was gone.

Elphaba sighed and grabbed her goblet.

This was the life she lived, Elphaba thought while, once again, looking around at the people seated around her. Every time she stepped in public, her appearance was scripted, her manner, her tone of voice, her words, and even any smile she did or did not smile. Her guests were hand selected to ensure her prominence in Oz while also assuring the Wizard he was the most prominent. She caroused with academics without being able to engage them in meaningful discourse. She took tea with sorceresses and could not learn more of their craft. She listened to the concerns of Animals with an objective front. Elphaba blindly thanked the staff member who put her second course in front of her. She was trapped in a gilded cage.

When Baako's mother asked her a question on her next travel plans, Elphaba supplied a well-rehearsed diplomatic answer for the month and company. She was in talks to visit with family friends of a mining community in the northernmost part of the Gillikin, but she very much wished to visit Kvon Altar during blooming season. As Baako's mother babbled on about her favorite something or other bush, Elphaba fell back to her thoughts. She supposed, if her advisors had their way, the next time she would visit the Vinkus, she'd be wed. Or at least soon-to-be, and possibly to one of their own. It was yet another chain binding her to this mundane life, and she found herself despising Peerless for not lasting another lifetime.

Sarima took control of the conversation, and it somehow managed to steer into the topic of the banquet. Takoda laughed after someone, most likely Romen, listed off some of the people who would be in attendance.

"All bachelors and bored wives? Colwen Grounds certainly knows how to entertain."

Frexspar looked on disapprovingly.

"I beg your pardon, Eminency." Elphaba startled at the sudden reappearance of Yazpik. He stood close to her chair and spoke low, "A matter needs your attention. Simply a moment of your time, if you would not mind."

"Urgently?" she whispered back over the rim of her goblet.

"Not life or death, but with haste if possible."

"Of course," Elphaba replied and stood. The rest of the table quieted quickly and followed suit. "Please continue to enjoy the meal. I apologize, but I must step out for a moment."

Elphaba followed Yazpik out into the corridor and nodded encouragingly after the door to the dining hall was shut.

"Is everything all right?"

"Frankly, I was worried you would break the glass goblet." Elphaba blinked at Yazpik. He motioned towards the courtyard and added, "It's a bright night out. Most of them won't miss you for another five or so minutes."

"I thought everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves," Elphaba said as they walked. She relished the feeling of the cool spring air on her skin once they passed the doors. It was grounding. "My father was especially excited about all the food being served."

"You looked lost, Elphaba."

"To my thoughts, perhaps," she agreed. Instead of sitting, Yazpik stayed by her side as she began strolling the perimeter of the courtyard.

"Anything in particular? Although, I suppose I could guess."

"If anyone could, it's you," she told him and kept on when he broke from her side to pace around the fountain in the middle. "I don't want to marry, Yazpik."

"You must at some point," he reminded her.

"In my own time, sure; but I'm not ready for that."

"You weren't ready to rule a nation, but you're doing quite well."

"Marriage is different," she snapped, sending him a side glance. His arms were folded over his chest, and his eyes were fixed to the stones at his feet as he moved. "You can train me to talk to dignitaries, to dine with sovereigns, and to gesticulate properly to a crowd. But, Yazpik, a personal relationship is out of your hands even if you arrange it."

Yazpik clasped his hands behind his back and said, "I assure you, nothing is out of my hands."

"I am out of your hands, sir. You can lead your horse to the stream, but you cannot make it drink. You taught me that."

"I also taught you that you must coax the horse to drink."

"And will you coax my hand to sign a marriage license, hmm?"

"Of course not. You are not a prisoner."

"I am a slave to my people, I know that," Elphaba said and came to a stop.

"But it's not the Munchkinlanders, is it?" Yazpik asked. Elphaba didn't respond, though she wasn't entirely sure what question he was asking. Yazpik went on, "It's the Wizard's proclamations which discourage you?"

"Ah," Elphaba remarked, "you're asking if I would be more willing to comply if heads of nations were up for consideration." She sunk onto the nearest bench and slouched back.

"Elphaba, you know the interests of Colwen Grounds have been my utmost concern," Yazpik said and she nodded. "I…" he started and trailed off. "Listen," he began again, sitting next to her, "I can make you no promises of the outcome, but I do promise I will do everything in my power to reach a result pleasing to you."

"You could call off this nonsense," Elphaba muttered. She waved a hand dismissively when Yazpik readied to reply. "Yes, yes, I know. I understand my position must be consolidated. I know my duties, and I know the weight of this all. I just don't like it, and I think you could afford me some time alone to spend with people I do like."

"I have no problem if you wish to walk the gardens with whomever you like, so long as that person does not jeopardize your reputation."

"You mean cause people to question my _purity?_ You know, Yazpik, for someone who hates politics, you put things quite diplomatically."

Elphaba chuckled softly and enjoyed the silence when Yazpik gave no response other than a smirk. He allowed her a few minutes of peace with her thoughts. She and Yazpik weren't always at opposite ends of a situation, but Elphaba frequently had to remind herself they were not enemies when the two did find themselves disagreeing. It took her a moment to collect those thoughts and remember this was the same man who fought for her interests when Romen failed to put his own behind. He was hardly the kind of ally she had in Jin, but Yazpik wasn't the bad guy her mind had been making him out to be these last few days.

"You promise you'll look for a loophole?" she asked after another minute.

"I stake my life on it. If I cannot and you do not find someone to spark your interest, we will discuss a compromise. You'll have access to my files on the guests coming, if it helps you."

She nodded and patted his knee.

"I should get back before my father thinks the worst has happened. I can see myself in. You work on that task." Elphaba paused after a few steps and then added, "Yazpik, you know what I want and what I'd be content with. Please strive for those."

 **Ehhhh? Yay? Meh? Nay?**

 **I'm trying to finish up writing an MA thesis, so I'll probably update within the month when that monster is finished.**

 **Reviews are awesome, and you are awesome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, you wonderful supporters, you. You all deserve fist bumps and love. So here's some confused and in love dorks for you.**

 **Disclaimer: Baako, Takoda, and Yazpik are mine. Everything else was created by visionaries.**

Elphaba stood at her bedroom window, which overlooked the courtyard, and studied the guests milling about the area. They were dressed in their teatime best, laughing and smiling with one another without ever truly being amused. Of everyone invited, maybe three or four of them genuinely wanted to be here. And of them, Elphaba had no interest. Although, to be fair, she had no interest in any of the buffoons loitering in her courtyard. She had been warned by multiple people to not unfairly and prematurely pass her judgement on them, and she knew she ought to have a conversation with them before she started striking the parchment. But she could barely stand to look at them at the moment.

Behind her, Nessarose was chittering away about something as Elphaba's lady's maid did up her hair for dinner. Glinda, who was wrapped up in a fluffy pink robe, had sprawled out on the chaise beside Elphaba while she flipped through a fashion catalog her mother had sent from the Emerald City. She responded to Nessa's questions without betraying the fact that she probably wasn't actually listening. It was a skill Elphaba had not mastered, though Romen was diligently making sure it was something she refrained from learning altogether.

When the lady's maid finished with Nessa's hair, she offered to do something for Glinda if Elphaba permitted, but Glinda waved her off politely. Glinda took great pride in being able to do her own hair. She had perfected how to get the perfect bounce in each spiral for the last several years, and she didn't want someone who had not been trained like her to mess that system up. Elphaba's lady's maid was well trained overall, though. She had spent most of her life growing up on the Munckinland-Gillikin border, so she understood the styles of each province. Elphaba felt the poor woman's talent was wasted on her, because typically she cycled through three simple hairstyles. Usually, she preferred her hair in a plait or simply down and loose, but from time to time she let her lady's maid put it up in a braided chignon. There was so much to do each day, and Elphaba hated wasting time having her hair done when she could be doing something else. Her indifference to hairstyles was one of the reasons why her lady's maid loved it when Nessarose came to visit.

The three of them and Elphaba's lady's maid had time to spare between the latter finishing Elphaba's hair and dinner. Yazpik and Jin were seeing to the guests in the courtyard while Romen greeted the stragglers. In all, there were about ten men Elphaba was to meet, three wealthy women with sway among the ten men, and several guests who merely accompanied the personally invited. Glinda promised to help Elphaba sort out those not worth her time and divert attention away from her when desired.

"Some of them have come from very far away for you," Nessa said derisively from the other side of the dressing panel. Elphaba's lady's maid grinned sympathetically at her as she helped Elphaba out of her robe. "You should at least give them a chance."

"None of them have travelled any distance for me," Elphaba responded while stepping into her underskirt.

"That's not fair, Elphaba."

Elphaba scoffed, and her lady's maid held the dress out for Elphaba to shrug into.

"Nessa, all of those men came for our money and my status." She added to her lady's maid, who had already adjusted the skirt and started on the bodice's lacing, "they couldn't give a twig about me."

"If anything, they're nice decorations for the time," her lady's maid quipped.

Elphaba hummed in agreement.

Glinda and Elphaba left Nessarose with Elphaba's lady's maid to dress her and do her makeup while the other two found a room to spy on the festivities outside. They were mostly Gillikinese men, but Elphaba noted two Quadlings, Takoda, and at least one who seemed to be from the Emerald City. Jin and Frex were talking to the Quadlings, who both looked nervous beyond compare. Takoda was gesticulating wildly to two of the men from the Gillikin, an Emerald City noblewoman, and the Emerald City bachelor. Elphaba's attention was drawn to Fiyero at the far end of the courtyard. He was leaning against one of the pillars with Avaric Tenmeadows sitting on the stone bannister beside him. Glinda mentioned they went to the same club when each were in the Emerald City.

"Must you really marry?" Glinda asked.

"Romen said this is just to get acquainted with my possibilities, but Yazpik wouldn't put all this effort into a possibility. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already drafting marriage agreements and spousal allowances."

"You'll be such a bore when you get married," she teased. "I'll write to discuss the biggest news coming out of the Emerald City, and you'll reply by droning on about what shade of black will insult your in-laws less."

"I sincerely doubt I'll see difference between shades, so you shouldn't worry about that."

"Have you looked into any of them?"

Elphaba had vetted each and every one of them twice over. She poured over all the materials Yazpik had on them and then put one of Yazpik's men up to acquiring more information for her. Elphaba knew everything from where each of them stood on Animal Rights to the foot they lead with. When Romen had brought up her interest in reading their files, she said she simply wanted to know how to lead a conversation with each of them; but both of them knew she was picking through the information to narrow down the pool of men she would deny anyway. Elphaba was sure part of Yazpik and Romen allowed her to get whatever she could in hope that she would surprise herself and find someone she liked.

There she was, though, hours and hours later, and she still wanted none of them.

"Why would I bother?" Elphaba evaded.

"I'm sure it won't be so bad, Elphie. Avaric has done a lot of growing up since Shiz."

"I don't even know why they're pushing for _this_ legacy. Thropp women and childbirth are notoriously ill-matched."

"Don't talk like that, Elphaba!" Glinda chastised. "By some miracle your aunt got pregnant at an old age and died in childbirth because she was an older woman giving birth. Childbirth is not what killed your grandmother: I shouldn't have to remind you. And even Frexspar said Melena would have died before the week's end, whether or not she went into labor."

"Well, it was all enough to curse me with this position."

"Now you're nearby your family. You've reconnected with your grandfather. You're in a position where you can help Animals. And you can help people. Who knows what you'd be doing if you weren't here? There's no use wishing on what could have been, Elphie. You're here now."

"I'm sorry. I need a moment to adjust to Glinda Upland saying something astute."

"Don't be mean."

"I'm sorry," Elphaba repeated, sincerely this time. She cast her gaze back down on the courtyard.

Elphaba only had to suffer through three days of all this nonsense. Not even three full days. She would dine with everyone tonight, greet them all personally as her staff served drinks in the Northern parlor, and spend the rest of the night talking with the guests who were there simply to provide influence. Tomorrow she would be forced to be feign interest all day. From morning coffee through lunch, Romen had planned her time out so that she could spend a little bit with each eligible bachelor. Then she would be granted two hour's reprieve before being dressed and styled for the banquet when she had to narrow down her interest, or at least those she could stand to consider an interest.

By the time dinner rolled around, the pads of Elphaba's thumb and forefinger were darkened from fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. If she were a normal color like Nessa or Glinda, Elphaba supposed her fingertips would be reddened; but since she was an abnormality, her tips took on the color of steamed spinach. She frowned at the comparison and then in the direction of the kitchen when the smell of steamed spinach wafted through the halls. She had put an array of green foods on the menu to make her guests uncomfortable, but Elphaba was currently scowling at her decision.

She was seated at the head of the table with a woman from the Gillikin on her right and one from the Emerald City to her left. They were both kind, if a little vapid. Elphaba merely sipped her wine and remembered not to roll her eyes. Glinda and Baako took the seats beside the women. Glinda was a blessing to keep the conversation going and bringing up topics Elphaba wouldn't have discussed on her own. Baako, on the other hand, reflected Elphaba's exasperation with the women. Whenever the woman from Emerald City spoke, he stared down at his plate, pulling faces. The Gillikinese woman tried time and again to engage him in conversation, because she loved his accent; but Baako feigned ignorance, which she found adorable. He sent Elphaba a good natured wink or smirk every now and then, and it made the dinner more bearable.

Fiyero was sat somewhere at the opposite end of the table with Nessarose and Avaric. Elphaba could hear Nessa's bell-like giggles over the conversation, and when she glanced in the direction, she was often met with Fiyero's profile and that lopsided smile of his. She found herself flitting her gaze back over to Fiyero time to time.

Elphaba _tried_ to take notice of the others at the table, but few caught her interest and even fewer held it. Quadling #1 was perhaps a 'maybe'. He had pleasant features and a nice smile. He was seated between two particularly chatty people, so Elphaba didn't see him talk much. She wondered if it was common for him or if he just couldn't get a word in. Probably a little of both. On her second sweep through the table, Elphaba saw the look Quadling #1 was giving Gillikinese #4. She adverted her eyes to her plate.

Did she look like that when watching Fiyero? This was exactly why her advisors wanted her to work on maintaining a blank face. Well, maybe this _exact_ situation wasn't what they had in mind, but the like, certainly.

"What say you, Your Eminency?" the woman from the Gillikin asked.

"I'm sorry, madam, can you repeat the question?" Baako asked, saving Elphaba from having to. "I think I misunderstood."

The woman from the Gillikin cooed and put her hand on Baako's thigh, causing his brows to shoot up. She repeated her question slowly, asking if Elphaba thought her father would ever remarry. It truly caught her off guard, and she shot a glance towards Frex who was talking with Jin.

"My father has not met another woman who captivates him as much as my mother had," Elphaba replied, and she wasn't sure she was being honest with the woman. At the very least, Elphaba knew Frex had not voiced a plan to remarry.

"Such a shame," the woman from the Emerald City replied, and the Gillikinese nodded in agreement. "If he does indicate an interest, please write to us. Between the three of us," she added and motioned to the Gillikinese woman, "we could surely find an acceptable replacement."

Elphaba smiled at them but sent Baako a look. Replacement? For her mother? Were these women mad?

She didn't stick around too long after. Once their finish drink had been taken away, Elphaba rose and waited for the rest of the table to follow her lead. She thanked them for being great dinner companions, expressed her excitement at their attendance, and told them she could not wait to get better acquainted over drinks later. Giving a slight bow of her head, she allowed them to take their seats as she departed the table.

They were awful guests, she thought. Well, perhaps fine enough for people who didn't know they were being considered for marriage. But she was hardly excited by their appearance here, and she could list pages of other activities she would rather be doing than rubbing elbows with them.

There was a small village about an hour's ride from Colwen Grounds. If she left now, Elphaba figured she could make it before nightfall. Or, if she was lucky, she would arrive with nightfall and be forced to rent a room at their local inn. She could escape. Just for a night and just to regain her gall. Elphaba sighed when she saw the large Scrow encampment as she passed from the first floor to the second. No. She would feel awful if she left. These people were here for her, and not all of them came with her advisors' heavy expectation. The Scrow, for instance, were along for the ride and generally happy to interact with her when she could spare the moment. Leaving would be a slight to them as much as the rest of her guests.

So Elphaba sulked in the shadows of the castle and paced deserted corridors until someone came to fetch her to fulfill her responsibilities. Her lady's maid, who had been adjusting Elphaba's hair, scowled at the attendant and sent him away.

Romen was waiting for her outside the northern parlor when she made her way down its corridor, ten minutes after the designated time. She had been messing with her sash and somehow managed to singe a corner of it, so her lady's maid ran around the castle looking for a fix. Romen looked at Elphaba expectantly but refrained from commenting on her tardiness. She once heard someone say that a sovereign is never late: everyone else is just early. Her advisors warned her against taking it to heart, but Elphaba usually abided by the rule.

The northern parlor was massive. It was the parlor every Eminency had used to entertain guests. In more modest homes, it would have been the size of a banquet hall. But the Eminency was nothing if not offensively grand. The room was a dark green, bordering on black, with silver vines twisting and winding around the room to showcase the ornate crystal chandelier that hung in the center. Its windows were large and flooring light as to not make its guests feel as if they were trapped in a dark room. During the day, when the sunlight flooded into the room and caught the crystals, the prettiest tricks of light danced on the dark walls. Aesthetically, it was Elphaba's favorite room.

It was also a painfully beautiful reminder of her station.

Everyone in the room momentarily quieted when Romen held the door open and allowed Elphaba to pass through. The men greeted her with varying degrees of bows while the women all gave their best curtsey. Elphaba forced a smile and clasped her hands behind her back.

Frexspar and Nessa had been waiting near the door for her. Her father was the first to greet her with a kiss to the back of her hand and then two to each of her cheeks. Elphaba squeezed Nessa's hand when it was offered and asked how they enjoyed dinner. It sent Nessa into a frenzy discussing the presentation of the second and fifth dishes. Frex winked at his eldest, and for a moment Elphaba's nerves were held at bay. It was almost normal. Listening to Nessarose prattle on about how pretty something was while she and her father did their best to look interested. Whether Nessa knew her family struggled to listen, Elphaba didn't know. She supposed Nessa, who was so frequently engaged in conversation about her disabilities or how her political opinion may differ from her sister's, may have just enjoyed speaking on nonessential issues which affected no one.

Elphaba left her sister and father with a couple quick pecks to the cheek and made her way around the room. Quadling #1 and Gillikinese #3 were with two of the influential ladies she needed to charm, so she started with them. Slyly, she kept an eye on the clock at the far end of the room, limiting herself to fifteen minutes before moving on.

Glinda and Quadling #2 were standing with Fiyero and Gillikinese #2 not too far away from Elphaba's current group. She steeled herself for the interaction before striding up to them with what she hoped was a confident but casual gait.

"Your Eminency," the group greeted as a chorus.

"I hope everyone is enjoying their evening?" Elphaba asked.

"Very much so," the Gillikinese man replied. He had a deep and raspy voice. "Miss Upland and I were just commenting on how Your Eminency should throw more parties in the future."

Glinda smiled widely at Elphaba, nodding earnestly. Elphaba grinned cautiously. Glinda knew Gillikinese #2 from societal connections, and when the girls were alone earlier, Glinda had nothing but high praise for him. He was all right, Elphaba thought. There was something unaffected about his presence, and it was a nice change from the wound up men she dealt with day in and day out.

"If it would please our new friends, then how could I possibly say no?" Elphaba asked without giving her own opinion on parties.

The two Gillikinese among them beamed, and Elphaba sent a side glance at Fiyero, whose gaze had been burning the side of her face since she started talking to their group. It didn't unnerve her, she didn't think. It made her hyperaware of the way she was standing, the way she was holding her hands, and the way her insides seemed to be having a crisis on how to properly behave. What did other people think when they followed Fiyero's eye? Was it as scandalous for him to stare her as it was for her to stare at him? Or was it expected?

"Penny for your thoughts, Fiyero?" Glinda asked, nudging the Vinkun lightly.

Fiyero started slightly, blinking once before clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Your, er, your dress is lovely, Your Eminency," Fiyero said.

It took the group of them aback, Elphaba included, so the only response which immediately rolled off her tongue was, "It has pockets."

She grinned at the group as she shoved her hands into the pockets of the dress. What was she doing? What kind of response was that? Elphaba quickly removed her hands and held them behind her back, giving a brief departing comment and fleeing to the next group.

"It has pockets," she murmured to herself with a quick eye roll. She scoffed softly.

The next group conversation was much easier to interact with. Takoda was among the small party and chatted with all of them as if he had been friends with each of them for his entire life. He even got the two from the Gillikin to joke with him and Emerald City #1 to gesture wildly in a way that Elphaba had only seen Takoda do.

As she was moving from one of the later groups to the next, Elphaba snagged a glass of wine from a servant circling the room. She didn't know how she had managed to make it through four groups without so much as a sip of wine. Her decision had perfect timing, too, she thought as she approached the next group, which was merely Avaric, the second man from the EC, and Baako's mother's sister.

"This parlor is absolutely stunning, Majesty," Baako's mother's sister commented in lieu of a greeting.

"Oh, thank you," Elphaba replied with a small smile. "My family is rather fond of it."

"It reminds me of a room in my grandmother's winter cottage," the EC bachelor told her. "Hers is not nearly as spectacular, of course, but I'm amazed at how comfortable I find myself here."

Baako's mother's sister fixed Elphaba with a look that was barely hidden from the EC bachelor.

"Perhaps your grandmother would love to visit at the next party we have?" Elphaba suggested. Their group paused for a moment as they heard one of the Gillikinese on the other side of the room talking about how well-bred he was. "At Lurelinemas, the entire room smells like peppermint sweet rolls."

The boasting Gillikinese man commented on how any child he sired would be worth more than any child in Oz. Baako's mother's sister put a comforting hand on Elphaba's arm.

"My grandmother would love that," the EC man said, glancing over at the Gillikinese when he laughed loudly at something.

"As long as that one isn't invited back, yeah?" Avaric added, and the EC man snickered.

Once again, the Gillikinese's drunken voice carried over the already buzzing parlor as he told whoever he was talking to that he came from a very long line of pureblood Gillikinese.

"Excuse me," she nodded to her companions.

Elphaba maneuvered her way to the back of the parlor as surreptitiously as she could after talking with Jin a little. The moment she saw her chance, she made a break for the back gardens. She didn't need to run away from all the utter ridiculousness occurring. She merely needed a breath. She needed to be in a place where men weren't following her like hounds. She needed a place where mothers weren't pointing out her flaws. She needed to be in a place where her every move, every smile, every damned blink didn't need to be calculated to serve some ridiculous purpose. She needed-

"Fiyero," Elphaba sighed upon seeing him pacing the length of one of the alcoves of the hedge maze.

He grinned at Elphaba. "I just needed a break."

"If you don't mind, I think I'll join you. If you do, I'm terribly sorry for your misfortune."

"I would never mind your company, Fae." Fiyero grinned again when Elphaba motioned for him to follow her. She chuckled softly at something but otherwise remained silent. Fiyero glanced around the area and stayed near enough to Elphaba that she could feel the heat radiating off of him. It chilled her more than the night air, but she maneuvered closer to him without overstepping boundaries. Fiyero spoke after a few moments, "Have you ever wanted something, Elphie? Wanted it so arduously but were constantly reminded it's not yours for the taking?"

Elphaba cocked her head slightly, her brow furrowing as she considered his question.

"Are we talking about a person? Because given my current circumstances, and my feelings on my current circumstances, I would be much more comfortable giving this abstract _'it'_ proper recognition."

"Well, I was actually referring to the stock of Munchkin whiskey in your cellars, but I can see how you could confuse it with a person."

"Oh, then, yes," Elphaba replied. "Coincidentally, also the Munchkin whiskey."

They walked in relative silence for a few moments with Fiyero fidgeting incessantly with his fingers. Elphaba could hear the merrymaking continuing without her in the hall, and she was certain she could even hear that abhorrent Gillikinese man talking about his lineage still. She closed her eyes and tried drowning them out with her own thoughts, but each time she managed to find some calm, a peal of laughter from somewhere would drag her back to reality.

Fiyero's fingers brushed across her hand every now and then, and Elphaba wanted to take his hand but settled for returning the action sporadically. He had a lopsided grin on his face the first couple times she did it, but then a more serious expression took over.

Elphaba assumed she was the one Fiyero was referring to. She had to be, didn't she? Fiyero wasn't cruel. He wouldn't have presented the situation without intending to act on it. She didn't know what she could say or what more she could do to assure him she was open to whatever he was thinking. Or maybe he was second guessing himself. Maybe he realized whatever he wanted—whatever she wanted—wouldn't likely last the moment. Whatever they did would be selfish, and Elphaba thought it may be more detrimental to act on it than let it simmer somewhere in the back of their mind.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Elphaba muttered when she couldn't stand her own thoughts anymore.

She gripped the lapels of Fiyero's jacket, steering them backwards into the shadows of the path while she met his lips. For a split second she thought he would pull away despite so eagerly accepting her advance. Fiyero wasn't doing anything with his hands, and Elphaba thought that translated into his indecision. She wanted this, of course, but she didn't want to keep at it if he didn't feel the same way. Her nerves dissipated, though, when his hands rested at her waist for a moment before holding her firmly and pressing more into the kiss.

It wasn't perfect, but she honestly didn't know what she expected. Their noses kept bumping in a way she wasn't sure was supposed to happen. Keeping her hands on his lapels felt awkward for her, but she worried Fiyero would think she was pulling away if she moved them. But perhaps he wanted her to be the first to break. She was shaky from the adrenaline and her general inexperience, and she knew her lips were dry from pursing and licking them throughout the night. Maybe he just didn't want to hurt her feelings. Did he know this was her first kiss? He couldn't have. She hadn't even told Glinda, but Elphaba suspected most assumed.

How long had it even been? Was it too late to pull away? No, that's ridiculous, she thought. It wasn't too late or too early. But she didn't want to stop. She knew it probably wasn't Fiyero's most memorable kiss, or maybe not even an enjoyable one; but Elphaba wanted to be selfish, and she wanted to keep kissing him until Fiyero said no more.

So she risked his reaction and moved her hands from his jacket to mirror his own hands' placement. Rather than end the kiss, Fiyero cupped her face, which she took as an invitation to deepen the kiss.

After a few more moments, Elphaba pulled back, and her heart stuttered when Fiyero followed her for more.

"Fiyero," Elphaba said, and her hands went right back to his lapel.

He drifted his hands down from her face to her neck and over her shoulders, eventually planting them on her waist once more. Fiyero looked pleased, happy even, but Elphaba didn't want to presume he felt anything. He knew the situation at hand, and she could hardly blame him for wanting nothing more than a kiss from her. Honestly, she couldn't even give him that. As soon as they emerged from the shadows, nothing could have happened.

"Fiyero, I can never ask you for more than that," she said, rubbing at a spot on the fabric.

"I know," he replied. She could feel his heart pounding. "I would never ask," he added and stuttered out something incomprehensible. He corrected himself, "I mean, I would never…ah, that is, I'm happy to be near you, Fae."

Elphaba laughed lightly and stole another kiss. Softer this time. Less rush and less fervor.

"We have to get back," Elphaba whispered.

" _You_ have to get back. No one will be missing me."

She grinned and laced their fingers together. Her smile widened and immediately fell upon thinking how well her green skin looked against Fiyero's tattooed one.

"My quarters aren't guarded at night," Elphaba told him before losing her nerve.

This time, Fiyero's face fell, and Elphaba's heart began racing. She had been too forward? Of course. He was quite possibly the shyest man she knew, the most modest. She had been too forward. It wasn't attractive and would have him reeling back. The thought made her frown. She was a forward person, and Elphaba wouldn't change that. Not even for Fiyero.

"I can't," he said hastily.

"Of course," she replied a little curtly and removed her hands.

Fiyero jumped for them as soon as the pressure lifted from his chest.

"It's not that I don't want to, believe me," and Elphaba did. "I mean _we_ can't. We're not in a position to say consequences be damned."

"Your tongue was just down my throat."

"I remember."

"Well, it's starting to slip my mind."

Fiyero barked out a laugh, and a small smile tugged at Elphaba's lips. He let her capture one more kiss before nodding in the direction of the ballyhoo.

"Oh, fine," she conceded, "you go on ahead. I'll stay out here until I'm dragged back."

"Elphaba…"

"If you won't stay with me, at least leave me alone."

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately left her with a swift bow and a chaste peck on the cheek. Elphaba huffed out a haggard breath when Fiyero was long out of sight. What had she been thinking? _How could you be so stupid?_ she thought as she tore off the lone flower growing in the hedge. Propositioning herself like a common whore. Elphaba scoffed and twisted the flower in her hands until the heat emanating from it caused her to drop the flower. She stared at the plant in mild horror as it fell to the ground, its edgings singed and smoking. Elphaba glanced around nervously then kicked gravel over the thing. She had probably been too rough with it, and the friction was too much for the flimsy flower.

Elphaba's conscious nagged at her as she settled onto a bench tucked in one of the dead ends. It was unfair of her to lash out at Ozian whores just because they could exert a degree of liberty she was not allowed. She supposed calling them _whores_ was probably also unfair.

Fiyero probably had sexually liberated women throwing themselves at him all the time. It didn't matter if he had little money, a title was enough for some women. Being a sexually liberated woman attached to a high ranking Ozian was better than being a common man's sexually liberated woman. Fiyero probably thought her no better than any of those women.

"The last thing he needs is another who—sexually liberated woman," she muttered to herself, looking back at the patch where the flower was still smoking.

A few minutes later, the snap of a twig drew her attention out of her own thoughts. One of the servants, followed closely by Romen, was beginning to light the lanterns in this section of the maze. She looked briefly in Elphaba's direction and then went back from where she came at Romen's order. Her grandfather stood with his hands fisted behind his back and waited until he could no longer hear the servant's heavy steps against the gravel.

Elphaba watched him carefully as he did this. He looked nothing like what Elphaba remembered of her mother, though people frequently told her Melena was the spitting image of Romen. His features were sharp and hawk-like, and Elphaba remembered her mother to have delicate ones. Romen's hair no longer showed the same connection people made: his once lauded locks were a light grey and slicked back with more product than Elphaba used in a month. Melena had, had curly auburn hair that was so thick that she couldn't keep it down in the summer months unless she wanted to chance a heat stroke. Elphaba grinned to herself, thinking back on a vague memory of Melena teaching Frex how to braid when she was heavily pregnant with Nessarose. Her grin faded. She wondered if Melena was teaching Frex, because she sensed she would not live long past Nessa's birth.

Once again, footsteps drew Elphaba out of her thoughts.

"Your grandmother used to flee to these gardens, too," he commented, taking a seat beside Elphaba. "Your mother, too, now that I think about it."

"Until she fled to Rush Margins, that is," Elphaba replied.

Romen hummed in agreement. "She used to sneak around with your father in the shadows of the gardens. I think she went to her grave believing her mother and I didn't know."

Elphaba sent him a side glance. She wouldn't ask him to go on, and he didn't press the comment if there was an insinuation packed in there. Instead, Romen took out a hand pipe from his jacket and a small pouch of tobacco. He packed the bowl in silence and took his first hit without so much as a glance in Elphaba's direction. Romen did, however, look towards where the flower was still smoking in the middle of the path. His brow furrowed, and a small panic shot through Elphaba. Then, just like that, the smoke snuffed out, as if reacting to Elphaba's anxieties.

"Hardly any of them are worth the energy to consider," Romen said, and Elphaba let out a surprised cackle. "I imagined some of them would be bores, but I hadn't expected to seek out the company of your father and the Vinkuns."

"A couple of them don't even know where they're at in Munchkinland, just 'the main part'," Elphaba admitted with a laugh.

"These are not the only men, you know?" Romen asked, frowning at the hedge before them. "They're merely the fish we grabbed from the barrel."

Elphaba brushed out the wrinkles in her skirt.

"You could bring me a new barrel every week, and none would contain a fish I found appealing."

"You'll have to stomach one of them eventually."

"Is that what you are?" she asked without the vitriol she had intended. "An entrée Partra could stomach?"

Romen answered, "No," as he blew out a plume of smoke. "The Wizard wasn't even born when we wed."

"Well," Elphaba grunted, rising to her feet, "I suppose I should pen the Wizard a letter of gratitude for my crummy and confining life."

"I wouldn't word it as such."

"I should get back to piranhas."

"Stay out of the gardens with Prince Fiyero, Elphaba."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "I will consider your request," she said and earned a side eye from her diplomat.

A few of them _fish_ were waiting on Elphaba when she returned to the northern parlor. All three of them were Gillikinese and seemed to be bouncing to leave the room. She received a quick bow and a garbled goodnight before they hurried from the room. Elphaba watched them leave, each of them with a sort of pep in their step. She raised her brows. She lived in a large palace with a large staff of single or otherwise deprived attendants. Elphaba knew _that_ gallop when she saw it. Though, it hardly mattered to her if Gillikin 1, 3, and 4 were off bumping uglies with her staff. It wasn't like she'd be extending them an invitation to return, and they assuredly knew so.

The second Gillikinese man was laughing raucously with one of the Quadlings. Elphaba noticed the blush creeping up the latter's neck and staining his ears. Avaric, the fifth and last Gillikin, was nowhere in sight, but he had been with Glinda when Elphaba escaped the prison earlier. Glinda was now with the two men from the Emerald City. Elphaba contemplated going over and joining them. She thought she could probably get used to the idea of marrying someone from the EC. They could have a cozy hideaway home in the City, and Elphaba could take vacations to get lost in the busy streets of the capital. However, as she neared the group, she didn't think she could stand to listen to the Emerald City accent for more than a conversation. Her only option was the last group—Takoda, the second Quadling, Sarima, and Fiyero—drinking in the corner. The remainder of her guests were sprinkled around the hall, some with the bachelors and others clumped with their own.

Elphaba decided on Takoda's group and faltered in her stride when Fiyero caught her eye. A goofy grin spread over his face and a light red quickly spread across his cheeks. Elphaba couldn't do it. She couldn't sit with them and drink. It was asking for a disaster. Before she could convince herself to go forward, Elphaba turned abruptly and came face-to-face with Avaric. He was wearing a shit-eating grin, and Elphaba wondered if it may have been better to test her luck with the drinking group.

"Champagne?" Avaric offered.

"It's bad luck to drink champagne without cause for celebration," Elphaba replied, moving past him.

He followed as Elphaba glanced at the table serving the refreshments.

"We're not even serving champagne. I hope you plan on paying for that bottle."

"Surely Colwen Grounds can afford to let a man have a bit of bubbly."

"I'll be forced to recall this theft when considering who among you I'll take as a trophy for the rest of my life." She prickled a little when she noticed the way Sarima was tracing patterns onto the back of Fiyero's hand. "Don't make a habit of drinking the good stuff and we'll blame the Scrow," she added.

Avaric laughed loudly, startling Elphaba and drawing the attention of several other guests.

"Look at us," Avaric smirked, "already conspiring like a married pair."

"If you'll excuse me," Elphaba said, parting ways with him and nodding to Yazpik who she caught milling at the outskirts.

Yazpik motioned for the attendants to stop moving, and the guests in the room rose to their feet when they noticed Elphaba. When Elphaba gave her goodnight comments, she focused her attention just above everyone's head as not to tempt her gaze to drop back to Fiyero and Sarima. Elphaba knew her tone was terse, but she would rather deal with the reprimands later. Currently, she felt if she remained in the room any longer, she would snap. A chiding from Yazpik was preferable to the chastising she would have given herself had she let her silly emotions get the better of her.

When Elphaba woke up the next morning, she felt more exhausted than she had when she went to bed. She stared up at the canopy which stretched over the top of her bed. The dark teal seemed too bright this morning, and she considered tearing them down and demanding black. She recognized how ridiculous she was being, though. This entire ridiculous situation was turning her ridiculous. Her canopy was fine. The lighting was fine. Everything was _fine._

It was fine that her advisors would expect some sort of invitation by the end of today. It was fine that she had no interest in any of the men here for her hand. It was fine that she would tell her advisor some line about wanting half the men to return much later in the year for a holiday in Munchkinland—even though she had no desire, which was fine. It was fine that she kissed Fiyero. It was fine that he didn't want her. It was fine, despite it being one-sided, that Fiyero was still the only one she wanted among the men here. It was fine. Everything was absolutely and extraordinarily fine.

A sharp knock ruined the silence which had previously engulfed her room.

Elphaba sighed.

"Milady," her lady's maid's voice carried past the door.

"Yes, enter," Elphaba answered.

The woman popped in, "Your father won't be attending tea before breakfast with you and sends his regrets, milady."

"It's fine," she replied blandly.

"He said to tell you that he's taking a couple of the Vinkuns for breakfast in the city, and he'll take tea with you when he returns, if you wish."

Elphaba propped herself up on her elbows, "Which Vinkuns?"

"He didn't say, milady," her lady's maid said as she picked through the dresses Elphaba laid out the previous night.

"Well, which Vinkuns aren't present now?"

"None of the guests have risen yet, Your Eminency."

Elphaba made a noise of impatience. "What good is a gossip-friendly staff if you keep tight-lipped?"

"You'll be the first I tell when I'm told, milady, you know." Elphaba waved her hand dismissively. She knew her lady's maid would tell Elphaba everything. If she said she didn't know, she didn't know.

The two of them worked quickly to get Elphaba ready for her morning. She didn't need to be present for anything until breakfast in a couple hours, so she was allowed to dress plainly so long as she stuck to her private quarters and library. Her lady's maid did up her hair in a way which would allow it to set in waves for later on, and Elphaba oiled her skin while her maid buttoned the back of her frock. In fifteen minutes, Elphaba was shutting her office door behind her and perusing the shelves for a few specific books.

Elphaba crouched in front of the titles she had in this library on Ozian marriage law, but a worn book down the row caught her attention. Ignoring her original intent, she pulled out the well-loved book. It was a journal. Peerless' journal, to be exact, she found when opening it. The date stamped on the first entry was from ages ago. She thumbed the corner of the book, thinking on the date for a moment. He had to have been around twenty-five when he wrote this. What would his twenty-five year old self have to say to her?

She read the first paragraph, _"Eilia visited today. She was quite reserved, but I thoroughly enjoyed and devoured fruit she brought with her. Sweet and succulent. The apples she brought from the southern orchard were excellent, too."_

"Oh, Oz Almighty, Peerless," Elphaba gagged as she snapped the book shut. She shoved the book back onto the shelf and grabbed one of the marriage law books.

Elphaba wasn't sure how helpful the books would be to her. The publication date was long before the Wizard arrived, and she wasn't entirely up-to-date with all the changes the Wizard enacted. There was so much to cover, she mostly researched what she needed and saved the rest for later. The book was old enough to lack an index, as well, which was what Elphaba was hoping to use to expedite this study session. She would need to get her hands on the updated marriage laws, but Elphaba assumed she would have to do it through Jin or her father. Romen and Yazpik wanted to help her, she knew, but they wanted to help her in a way that she didn't think was particularly helpful.

"You know," Elphaba's musings were interrupted as Avaric leaned against the threshold, "Back at Shiz, if anyone asked me where I saw my life headed, vying for Elphaba Thropp's hand would have never crossed my mind."

Elphaba blinked at her book. She should have locked her door.

"I have no idea what you're on about, Tenmeadows," she retorted.

"Oh, really?" he cackled and crossed his arms. "So if I packed up and left right now, I wouldn't be met with thinly veiled grovels from your master of diplomacy and your spymaster wouldn't be digging up dirt to blackmail me into staying?"

"Romen doesn't grovel, and Yazpik probably already has everything he needs to know."

"Fair enough."

"What do you want?" Elphaba asked curtly, flipping the page of her book with more force than necessary.

Avaric smirked in response.

"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite green world leader?"

"Yes," Elphaba answered. "There's generally an appeal for an audience, an attendant, and Yazpik sulking somewhere in the shadows."

"Well, I saw Master Yazpik sulking in the corridors, and my appeal must have gotten lost in the mail."

Elphaba remained silent, focusing on the book instead of the present company. Egging him on wouldn't get her anywhere.

Avaric went on anyway, "I notice a lot of things. A benefit of my upbringing and some of the experiences I've acquired over the years." Elphaba made a noncommittal noise. "For instance, the composition of your guests. Ten bachelors? A few married women with influence? It's a Gillikinese tactic. I couldn't even count on two hands how many of these gatherings I've been to since graduation."

"So you're not good enough for at least ten other women."

He grinned in response. "And you, yeah?"

Elphaba sighed and shut her book. "Do you have a point? Or are you just going to babble until I pity you?"

"Pity me? At least ten other women have considered me well-bred enough to marry. That is a compliment I will take to my grave. The difference between those women and you is you need me."

"I don't need anyone."

"I lived with Fiyero and Boq for three years. I know the face they make when they need to eat, need to sleep, and need to shit. I know their go-to outfits. Most importantly, I know what they wear after they experience, ah, a degree of intimacy with someone." Elphaba folded her hands and stared coolly at Avaric. "Fiyero, for instance, goes to his red vest and doeskin pants. Which I happened to see him wearing as he got into a carriage with Master Frexspar. Weird, right?"

"Bizarre," Elphaba agreed.

Avaric motioned to the chair in front of Elphaba's desk. "May I?" He sat down without waiting for an answer. "We know each other, Elphaba. I'm not repulsed by your skin or convinced I'll catch it like half those dimwits here. I'm good company and well-versed in etiquette. We would make a good partnership. I don't care what you do behind closed doors, so long as you afford me the same respect and so long as our business remains behind closed doors."

"I bet every little Munchkin dreams of being proposed to in such a manner."

"When have you ever been like every little Munchkin?"

"Never," Elphaba said.

"You don't need to answer me now. Tell your advisors you'd like to invite me back, and I'll postpone for a while. Give you some time to think. Then you can write me directly when you see this is a great prospect for both of us. You'll get some freedom, and I'll be set."

Avaric pulled out the flower which had been tucked into his front pocket and set it on Elphaba's closed book. He winked at her and left Elphaba staring after him. Part of her was considering his proposition. All things considered, it didn't seem so bad. But an even larger part of her was stuck glaring at _you'll get some freedom_. What did Avaric know of her freedom? How could she possibly be free when duty chained her down?

She snatched the flower and agitatedly tore off a couple of the petals before squeezing it in her fist. Avaric could bring her home a new man every night, and she wouldn't be able to do anything more than nod at him upon his arrival. So much as an appreciative smile could send her people into a tizzy. And that's merely if the mystery man was a fellow Munchkin. A Gillikinese? A Quadling? Not even the reappearance of Ozma would save her from the wrath the Munchkins would bring down on her. But a Vinkun? They would hate her for making a cuckold of her husband and loathe her for doing so with a Vinkun. The best fate she could hope for is being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Munchkins were forgiving of many things, but adultery would spark a vicious side of them.

 _His_ transgressions would be forgiven. Yazpik would go out of his way to hide whoever Avaric was doing on the side. Romen would have dozens of tales already spun in case of a scandal or a bastard child showing up. Avaric would enjoy freedom. Elphaba would see such few liberties. She would be so bogged down that being allowed to pick which leg crossed the other would seem like a great generosity.

Elphaba hissed and let out a string of expletives at the smell of burning herb. She dropped the flower onto the desk and quickly slammed the marriage law book down on the burning flower.

It was fine. Everything was fine.

She sniffed the air outside of her office as she shut the door. It didn't smell like something had been burning. The attendant did his best but barely hid the curious look on his face. Elphaba muttered something about the maids needing to do a better job at cleaning her office and then told him not to let anyone but her in the room for the next few days.

"I'll take tea in the southern parlor," she added.

"Of course, my lady," he nodded and locked the door. Elphaba handed him two notes as well, "Please pass these on to my father and Prince Fiyero, discreetly."

"Of course, Your Eminency."

"If Yazpik finds out, Jin will find out you're quite keen to join the militia."

"Of course, Majesty."

Elphaba paced back and forth in the southern parlor. It was their best parlor but the least used. Peerless had used it as a personal residence for his family. It's where Partra grew up and where Melena learned all her social graces. There were traces of family life throughout the parlor. Lines carved into the threshold where Partra's height was recorded. A lingering scent of Peerless' cologne which seemed to stick to the walls. Sketches done by family members and left tucked in books and in between music sheets beside the piano in the corner. Elphaba never used it herself. Not until now, that is.

She had changed into her second outfit of the day. Her hair was still braided and twisted, but her frock was exchanged for a little more restricting dress. At least it didn't have a corset, she supposed. It's sleeves weren't long enough for her to fidget with, though. She commented to her lady's maid that she noticed many of her dress' sleeves no longer came down to her wrist. Her lady's maid simply shrugged and told Elphaba styles must have been changing. Elphaba knew better, though. It drove Romen crazy when she fidgeted, and her tailors weren't exactly thrilled to find the material at her wrist worn thin in such a short amount of time. So now she was fidgeting with her fingers. Twisting them together and cracking knuckles when she could.

When Fiyero knocked on the door once and entered, Elphaba thought she was going to throw up. Or pass out. Maybe both. Maybe she'd wet herself. It seemed fitting with her luck to lose all proper bodily functions. She smiled at him, though, to give her mind something else to focus on.

Fiyero looked at her and threw a glance around the room. Elphaba paused. She should have told him they would be unattended. He probably didn't want to be here, she thought. He may have still been unsettled from the previous night. She should have asked Glinda to be here. Or maybe her lady's maid. Anyone. Well, not anyone. Elphaba would have sooner been caught dead than allow Sarima to be part of this. The thought of the Scrow gave Elphaba a renewed confidence.

"That outfit looks good on you," she commented, kissing Fiyero's cheeks. His cheeks heated up when she said it, and she felt a swell of pride when she noticed.

"You, too," he replied. "I mean, your dress looks good on you. Not that you wear dresses that look bad on you. Or look bad at…" he trailed off, clearing his throat. "You wanted to discuss something?"

Elphaba took a step forward, close enough to feel the rush of breath he let out when she did. He didn't move as she fixed the collar of the white shirt her was wearing under his red vest, but his breathing was noticeably erratic when she brought a hand down to fix a button of his vest which was close to unbuttoning. Fiyero slowly shuffled closer to her, and Elphaba felt her own heart begin to pound more than it had already been. His breath ghosted over her cheek as he pressed his forehead against hers. Her knees were turning into jam. They were going to give out. She was going to make a fool of herself and bruise herself in the process.

"Just do it," she whispered impatiently.

Her insides twisted pleasantly when he chuckled for a second before kissing her. She was selfish. Absolutely selfish but couldn't be bothered to care. Everything was fine.

"They'll be bringing tea at any moment," Elphaba said, pulling away from Fiyero when he started leading them away from the door.

He stepped back, clearing his throat again and rubbing the nape of his neck, "Oh, right, of course."

Her office attendant appeared not long after. He nodded to the two of them and accepted the small purse Elphaba offered in exchange for his silence. The attendant set the tea down on the table and poured each of them a cup before taking his leave.

Fiyero grinned when he settled into his seat. "Did you get brew yerba mate for me?" It was his favorite, and Elphaba knew it.

"Well, my attendant did. He's rather fond of you, I think."

He gave her his lopsided grin, and she took a sip of her mate to keep from going for another kiss.

Elphaba tried not to let the history of the southern parlor fool her into thinking it would bring her some good luck in the conversation. She knew what she would ask Fiyero would be a lot, and that it might not be something he was willing to do. Elphaba reminded herself that she needed to be realistic, but she was also hopelessly foolish. She was a slave to her emotions, and they were currently in an optimistic uproar.

"Avaric came to speak to me this morning," she started after Fiyero told her about breakfast with her father and all the pleasant conversation and mutual admiration.

Fiyero choked out a laugh over his mate. "Avaric Tenmeadows up before eleven? It's a little earlier for him to be conspiring, don't you think?"

"Fiyero."

"Sorry, I'm just not used to seeing Avaric in a diplomatic setting like this. What did Avaric want?"

Elphaba watched Fiyero closely as she told him, "He proposed." Years of exposure in a court setting showed on Fiyero's face. That is, his expression remained blank but not uninterested. It was the expression her advisors wished she would perfect. "In a terribly unconvincing manner, but…"

"But not altogether unconvincing," he finished for her.

"Not entirely, no," she replied. Elphaba laughed nervously. "Things would be so much easier if you could call dibs on me, eh?"

"Elphaba." Fiyero frowned.

She rolled her eyes, "I know, I know. I just…It's just that…You just…" Elphaba groaned softly as she struggled for the right words. "You make me feel like my life isn't completely ridiculous. I look forward to your letters, and I get anxious every time your carriage shows up at the gate." Fiyero only stared at her, silently, so she went on, "My heart pounds when you're near me, and I have this need to fidget when I think about what I'll say to you and how you'll respond. And I can't…I can't finish this thought if you're going to be unresponsive."

Fiyero's brows were tugged together as he stared at his teacup, thumbing the grip.

"What was convincing about Avaric's proposal?"

"Pardon?" Elphaba asked, genuinely unsure she heard him correctly.

"Avaric's proposal. What made it not entirely unconvincing?"

"Ah," Elphaba said, leaning back in her chair. She couldn't help but feel like she was dangling off a cliff. "He has a rather generous open door policy," she told him, not quite sure how to tell him Avaric would be okay with the two of them canoodling behind his back.

He seemed to understand without additional elaborate, though. She supposed it wasn't too hard to piece together when it followed up a confession.

"Fae," Fiyero responded in a way that made her think she wouldn't be too content with what followed. "I, uh," he paused, choosing his words. "Do you remember that night we went to break Boq out of the campus security cell?" It was Elphaba's turn to stare blankly. "I was going to stay behind and finish up some essays, and you wouldn't take no for an answer. You were so passionate and unyielding that I was more worried about letting you down than failing my essays. Then we get there, and Glinda gets the guards to admit Boq was in there for a couple hours, because he was caught spying on the girls' dormitory. And instead of convincing them to let him out, you convince them to keep him for a day—which they did. Boq was so peeved at you: he didn't talk to you for a week. But I think I fell in love with you then." He shook his headed, correcting himself, "I know I did. And have been ever since."

Elphaba didn't know if she was humbled or enthralled, but she didn't think she could be both.

"But I can't be your whore," he said.

 _Sexually liberated partner_ , Elphaba thought but didn't say for obvious reasons.

"My people need me to be a prince, Fabala, not someone's secret favorite."

"How would being my paramour be any different than what we've been doing for the past couple days?" she asked defensively. "The looks? The smiles? Stolen kisses in the gardens? In unattended rooms?"

"I'd be broaching a contract, putting our reputations at risk, threatening the stability of the territories we rule. Civil wars and coups have been orchestrated over less, Fae."

Fiyero folded his napkin and placed it on the table as he prepared to leave. Elphaba hurriedly placed a hand over his.

"Please," she whispered, "stay. Most of me knew it wasn't a viable option anyway." Elphaba sipped her mate gingerly until Fiyero nodded and settled back down. "It's there, though, you know. In case my other plans don't pan out."

"Your other plans?" Fiyero asked, pouring himself another full cup and giving her his undivided attention.

 **Princess Diaries reference, ehhhh?**

 **Let me know what you think, what you like, etc.**

 **(Still working on that bad boy, aka my thesis/defense, so I'll update when that's done.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, you beautiful wonder creatures, you.**

 **Soooo here's this. Some of the dialogue is taken from Wicked, as well as some of the scenery and specific terms.**

 **I've been rereading Wicked, and I'm currently at the City of Emeralds part. So can I just tell you all how much I love Fiyero. He's such a precious pumpkin who is madly in love with Elphaba and gets boners in the middle of stores just from thinking about being with her.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the mistakes that are probably riddled throughout this chapter.**

* * *

Elphaba walked through the streets of Emerald City with Romen and Yazpik following at a considerate distance. Ozians buzzed past on their way home from work, on their way to the start of their shifts, or just out running last minute errands. They were so unaffected by her presence and so engrossed in whatever task they had or whatever thoughts were occupying their minds. It was a stark difference from Colwen Grounds (or, really, anywhere in Munchkinland) where she couldn't think of taking a step before a dozen Munchkins swarmed her for one reason or another. So the change of pace was most welcome. Elphaba was just another face on the street in the Emerald City.

Seasonal trips to the Emerald City were obligatory, though Elphaba enjoyed them for the most part. The Wizard never ventured outside the Emerald Palace, or, if he did, it was unbeknownst to the public. So heads of nations were required to spend agreed upon time in the Emerald City, meeting with the Wizard and his advisors and carrying out diplomacy with other ambassadors, nobles, and heads of nations present.

The Quadlings spent the most time in the City, a full six months split up over the year, and it was mandatory for them to have no less than three ambassadors present in the City at all time. Frex believed it was because Quadling Country was still so uncivilized. It had plenty of untapped resources, and if the Wizard kept the Quadlings under close supervision, he had ultimate sway in how and where their resources were spent. Besides, if the heads Quadling Country were so preoccupied with planning for one of their heads' departures and absence, they didn't have very much time to coordinate and properly assess the state of their nation.

The Gillikin Archduchess only spent two weeks of the year in her home in the Emerald City. She and the Wizard had the strongest ties of all the heads. In exchange for a hefty sum of Gillikinese emeralds, the Archduchess boasted a degree of freedom than Elphaba, Fiyero and the dual magistrates from Quadling Country. Most Gillikinese were happy with the close relationship to the Emerald City, though. The Munchkins, on the other hand, would have called for Elphaba's head on a spike if she courted the Wizard's good graces as the Gillikinese did. They would rather she be met with resistance every step than submit to Emerald City politics. And, quite frankly, she agreed.

As for Munchkinland, like the Vinkus, Elphaba had to be in the Emerald City for a season worth of time. Fiyero spent the last month of the fall and first two months of the winter in the City while Elphaba typically left Colwen Grounds for one month in the fall, spring, and summer. She and Romen had planned out her trips for the next five years. However, Yazpik had changed things around for this year. Rather than spending one month in the City, he told Romen to schedule her spring and summer visit back-to-back. It would give Elphaba a reprieve from Colwen Grounds before she returned to the obligations waiting for her there. Which, she knew, was the return of a handful of her suitors: Takoda, Baako, Avaric, and the one of the Quadlings.

Elphaba adjusted her stole and pulled at the sleeves of her dress. Truthfully, she couldn't see the lesser evil among them. Perhaps the Quadling, if she gave herself a headache trying to pick out his good qualities. She hardly even remembered what they talked about in their brief encounters, but he was a favorite of Romen's. His family was held in high regard by the magistrates, and Romen hoped Elphaba merely considering him as an option would bolster their influence in Quadling Country.

Of the four of them, Elphaba thought as her Emerald City estate came into view, she supposed Baako would be her top choice. Even that, though, was if she disregarded all personal opinions and relationships. He was amicable, charming, and rather sweet without really trying to be. They would be lucky to be saddled with each other. Elphaba didn't even worry too much about how to get along with him. She liked Baako. He was fine company and kind to her family and staff. But he was like a brother to Fiyero, and, most importantly, he wasn't Fiyero.

She was going to marry Fiyero. Her advisors could throw all the names they wanted, but when Elphaba's liberty was signed away, it would be Fiyero's who went with it.

"Your Eminency," one of her staff greeted when Elphaba walked into the foyer of the modest sized townhome.

"I'll take a nightcap in my room, please," Elphaba replied.

"General Jinjuria would like to take tea in your study, if it pleases you," the staff said.

"I can meet with him instead if you'd rather rest, Eminency," Romen commented after Elphaba bristled slightly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Elphaba chided lightly. "I always have time for my advisors," she added. "If you'll excuse me, I'll see you both in the morning."

Romen and Yazpik bowed dutifully before a few more from Elphaba's staff brought them their things. Each of them had their own residences in the Emerald City. Romen owned a family home, which Elphaba would inherit someday, not far from the Estate of the Eminency of Munchkinland. Yazpik stayed in a bought out room in a brothel on the other side of town. Elphaba was half convinced he slept in alleyways and attics nearby, because he was always back at the estate in a moment's notice. Quicker than it took her to cross from one end of the home to the other, truly.

When she was sure each of them were gone without the intent of returning for the night, Elphaba excused herself and told the staff she would bring the tea up herself. The kitchen staff was busy finishing the last of their tasks when Elphaba walked in. They all greeted her properly and offered assistance, then gladly got to work when Elphaba requested of pot of tea for two. She suspected they were a bit antsy with her there and telling how the tea was to be made. Naturally her staff was capable of making a simple pot of tea, but Elphaba knew exactly how to make this pot of tea. She had spent many trial and error sessions trying to get it just right. So she would take the tense and barely hidden exasperation from her staff if it meant perfection.

Elphaba made her way to her study on the ground floor once the tea was finished. It was settled in the back corner of the estate, looking out over the a small garden of sunflowers Peerless had put in a couple years before he died. It was a very beautiful patch, and Elphaba often found herself distracted by it when she sat in her office for hours on end. Tonight, however, the patch was hidden from view as the blinds were closed and the heavy dark curtains drawn.

Rather than Jin waiting for her, Fiyero sat on her desk, flipping through a book on Ozian marriage law that she had been reading earlier. Her looked up when she carefully opened the door while balancing the tray of tea on one arm. By the grace of the Unnamed God or Ozma or whoever, Elphaba had managed to convince Jin to allow her stolen moments with Fiyero. Although, Elphaba believed her father may have pleaded her case to Jin; so, for the last two weeks of Elphaba's stay, whenever Jin requested tea in her study, Fiyero greeted her instead. Officially, Fiyero was in the Emerald City visiting the Gentlemen's Club where a business associate of the Arjiki frequented. Unofficially, it was a social call. A little business mixed with pleasure.

"Find anything interesting?" Elphaba asked, setting the tea on the side table near the door, which she locked.

"About a dozen footnotes calling elopement utterly foolish, and one claiming it is the height of lovers' passion and an over-romanticized union for those too cowardly to share their love in a ceremony but not the worst thing a person could do."

"How heartening," Elphaba responded coming up beside him.

"A silver lining," he corrected, leaning toward her slightly. Elphaba closed the distance and met his lips in a gentle kiss. She felt Fiyero grin against her lips.

"I didn't find much in the way of loopholes in my own search," Elphaba told him, moving to the other side of her desk and pulling a stack of files from one of the drawers. "You can trust those in power to cover their bases to ensure its kept."

Fiyero hummed but kept on reading.

Elphaba's plan was to appeal to the Wizard. It was a long shot if there ever was one, but she would not be accused of failing to exhaust her options. If she wished to marry one of the Quadling magistrates or the son of the Archduchess, Elphaba knew she wouldn't be met with as much opposition. A union between Munchkinland and Quadling Country or the Gillikin wouldn't be the heaviest burden the Wizard would face. Sure, Munchkinland was a bit of a wild card for him, but he had a hand wrapped tightly around every spine running through each territory. Every spine that mattered, that is.

The Vinkus was the biggest threat to the Wizard's unified Oz. They were the last territory to acquiesce to the Wizard's reign, and, by far, they paid the most for it. Munchkinland and Quadling Country put up a few skirmishes against his regime when it was first installed, but the Vinkuns fought tooth and nail for their own sovereignty. They were brutally beat into submission, and a series of ordinances were put in place to keep Vinkuns in a place the Wizard felt they belonged. Vinkuns forces weren't allowed to breach a certain number. They couldn't acquire the latest military technology from Gillikinese military technicians. Their imports and exports were heavily taxed. And diplomatic talks between the Vinkus and Munchkinland had to be strictly monitored by a representative from the Emerald City, almost always a cabinet member of the Wizard's.

A union between Elphaba and Fiyero could be the beginning of the end for the Wizard. A combined army of her nation's forces, the Vinkuns, and mercenaries and volunteers from all other allies could easily overwhelm the Emerald City. Fiyero knew it. Elphaba knew it. The Wizard knew it. Elphaba had to convince him he had nothing to fear.

A long shot, and she was rather inept at archery.

So elopement—to which Glinda had blanched at: _Elphaba Thropp, you_ cannot _be serious_ —seemed to be their best option. Or, at least, they thought it was their best option. They could certainly appeal to a handful of Ozians. Two young people so in love and challenged that they felt running away and marrying in secret was the only way to stay together. Those Ozains would most definitely not be the diplomats or seasoned nobility. Diplomats and nobility would shun them from the majority of social events, seat them at the back of the room at others, and begrudgingly talk to them when required. Ozians view on divorce, as backward and savage as Elphaba believed it to be, was their saving grace.

Taking her notes for the meeting, Elphaba dropped onto the chaise in the middle of the room. She knew the contents like the back of her hand, but if she read through the legal papers one more time she was going to chuck them in the fire. However, instead of reading her notes or adding to them, she found herself glancing back at Fiyero more often than she spent blankly staring at her own handwriting.

Fiyero was dressed casually in a loose cotton tunic and a pair of shabby linen pants. His hair didn't appear to be tended to since she saw him at Colwen Grounds: the bottom half of his hair, which was normally shaved, had hair growing. Though, Elphaba rather liked the way it looked against the rest of his hair that was long and gathered up in a knot at the crown of his head. His tribal tattoos, patterns of blue diamonds, stood out against the tanned skin on his neck, and she could see some peaking out at his collarbone.

Exhaling softly, Elphaba averted her gazing, opting to stare at the unlit log in the fireplace instead.

She wondered how much of his body was covered in the tattoos. How far down his chest did they extend? Did he remember getting each of them? Lately Elphaba had been thinking of them far more than probably appropriate. She wanted to know them as well as she knew the scars on her body. She imagined tracing each one. Outlining them lightly with her fingertips. Giving special care to the ones at his neck and collarbones. They were her favorite. She could drive herself mad thinking on the way they teased at the hem of his shirts. A little snippet of a larger piece. In her mind, they trailed down to his hips. Various patterns splayed across his sides, abdomen, hips. Until they disappeared past his waistband, tops of patterns poking out as the ones at his collar did.

Elphaba blinked when the log in the fireplace caught fire.

"Glinda arrives sometime tomorrow morning," Fiyero said, breaking through Elphaba's panicked thoughts on the frequent reoccurrence of whatever was happening. He flipped to a different page the file he was looking at while Elphaba shrugged out of her dress's overcoat and set it beside Fiyero's summer cloak on her desk chair. It was getting ridiculously too hot in the room for her. "She wants you to stop by after your meeting."

"I'll probably require a chaperon," Elphaba replied, fidgeting with her cuff. "I can't even take a walk without at least one advisor in tow."

"Take Romen or Yazpik. Romen, maybe. I think they'd be suspicious of you if you took Jin."

Fiyero's brow furrowed when Elphaba muttered something in response before taking the file from him and tossing it aside. She clasped her hands behind her back and kissed him again. Elphaba thought she could spend the rest of her life kissing Fiyero. She _would_ spend the rest of her life kissing him. He softly chuckled into the kiss, which sent a chill down Elphaba's spine, and took her face in his hands while pressing his body against hers, which turned that chill into something more.

Was it inappropriate to take his shirt off? Elphaba wondered. No, she thought, that's ridiculous. People made out all the time in various degrees of undress. Or, so Glinda had said. Did she need to ask him to take it off or if she could? What could she do to communicate that she wanted the shirt off? Did she need to take hers off first? Oh, she should have read those books Glinda sent her.

"Yero, take your shirt off," she blurted out without thinking it through.

Fiyero threw his head back as he laughed, and Elphaba thought she was going to die. But Fiyero complied, and Elphaba _knew_ she was going to die.

"Oh, man," Elphaba muttered, tracing the diamonds on his chest, and he blushed deeply. The color filling his cheeks, the tips of his ears, and running down his neck.

Elphaba felt her desire, a burning heat, twisting in her core. The familiar sensation sent another wave of panic through her. What if they kept on with whatever and something happened? Not just a 'something' something, but something because of the 'something' something. What if she set something on fire? What if she set Fiyero on fire? Her heartrate sped up. She couldn't live with herself if something happened to Fiyero because of her. How would she even explain that? _Sorry, Oz, I was hanky-pankying with someone who I shouldn't be hanky-pankying with and I accidentally set him on fire because that sometimes happens to nearby things when I get worked up which also goes against the Wizard's ordinance that prevents practioners of sorcery from assuming public office._

Once again, Fiyero drew her out of her thoughts, "Are you okay?"

She blinked and saw him staring at her nervously.

"It's just…I just…I mean, that is to say…the log in the fireplace…" Elphaba ended her babbling with a huff and wave toward the still burning fire. When Fiyero's attention danced over to the fireplace, Elphaba added, "You make me nervous."

" _I_ make you nervous?"

"Well, naturally!" she exclaimed quietly and motioned to him as she backed away from him. "I mean, look at you. You're a damned wet dream." She followed his diamonds down his torso to where his pants blocked the rest from view. _Oz almighty_ , she thought. "You muddle my thoughts."

Fiyero glanced down at the tattoos on his stomach and spread his fingers over them as the blush on his ears darkened. Elphaba would have found it wonderfully hot if it wasn't so damned endearing to her. He almost seemed self-conscious about them, but she didn't truly understand why. The idea that someone else found him or his tattoos repulsive was beyond her grasp. He was beautiful, and he was standing in front of her without his shirt on and so vulnerable.

"I can put my shirt back on," Fiyero suggested after a few beats of silence.

"Well, that would be a shame," Elphaba responded, only half kidding.

She was decidedly disappointed when he did put his shirt on. Wanting to see the tattoos on his abdomen almost drove her as crazy as seeing them.

"I'm not a dream, you know," he said, offering his hand palm up. Elphaba kept her distance but let her fingers dance over top of his before Fiyero grasped them and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I'm here, and I love you. And when you wake up tomorrow and all the days after, I will still love you, Elphaba Thropp."

Elphaba's heart was pounding uncomfortably in her chest. All she wanted to do was kiss Fiyero, but the sound of the crackling fire kept her from jumping her poor Vinkun's bones. Instead she smiled softly at him, lacing their fingers and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You should probably head back to the Club. It's a long walk from here," Elphaba said and handed Fiyero his cloak. "I'll find you when I finish with the Wizard."

"Hey," Fiyero whispered, pressing a kiss to her fingers, "this time tomorrow."

Elphaba pursed her lips.

"Everything will be all right," Fiyero assured her, and she nodded. "Meeting with the Wizard is just being considerate."

"Send word when you make it back." She kissed him goodbye and checked the hallway for him before Fiyero headed toward the servant's passages.

Elphaba was having her morning coffee early the next morning when she became convinced her day was going to be complete and utter trash. Sleep hadn't come easy, and she had already been ready for bed within ten minutes of waking up. Ten seconds, really. The dress her lady's maid stuffed her into had too much lace, too many buttons in the back, too little black, and too short of sleeves. As befit the style of the Emerald City, she was forced to wear long, silk black gloves that were tied with a white ribbon just below her elbow. She looked ridiculous. She felt ridiculous. And her morning turned even more ridiculous when a squirrely staff member entered the room hesitantly and gave a shaky bow.

Romen and Yazpik eyed the boy critically before her spymaster snapped at the kid the speak.

"You have a visitor, Eminency."

"Surely, or you wouldn't have bothered her," Romen replied without looking up from the morning paper. "Introduce our visitor, lad, and then go discuss your future with the head of staff."

Elphaba stared at the boy expectantly as he cleared his throat and bowed again.

"Master Avaric Tenmeadows requests a moment of your time, Eminency."

Elphaba groaned.

"What a pleasant surprise!" Romen cried happily.

"Surprises are for the foolish," Yazpik responded.

"Oh, hush, you'll sour Her Eminency's mood."

"Because Avaric Tenmeadows hasn't already?" Elphaba grunted, and Romen sent her his best concealed glare. Turning her attention back to the poor staff member, Elphaba said, "You may show him in, and please emphasize he has but a moment of my time." As the boy left, Elphaba motioned for a footman to set another place at the table.

"He has considerable influence, Elphaba," Romen said lowly.

"And a considerable amount of bedfellows," she retorted.

"If his personal affairs are your biggest concerns, then this could be a manageable union."

Elphaba and Yazpik turned critical frowns on Romen, which immediately fell into neutral expressions as the same nervous staff member introduced Avaric properly.

"Your Eminency," Avaric greeted, bowing deeply, "you're looking particularly radiant this morning."

Elphaba did little to hide her eye roll, but she answered him with a wave of her hand to the empty place at the table. The Gillikinese people weren't particularly fond of coffee, and Avaric was one of their best examples of this. And Elphaba knew it. She also knew it would be extremely rude of him not to accept the drink from a head of a nation, especially in the company of her chief diplomat.

"I hope you like coffee," Elphaba grinned innocently enough. "It's a staple in Munchkinland. My people—it's the oddest thing, Master Tenmeadows—don't seem to trust people who dislike coffee."

Avaric stared down at the dark liquid as it was poured into a cup for him. Elphaba's grin widened when he looked around for sugar or cream but found none.

"We have a cup at every banquet, meeting, or social event. It's good luck. Master Romen, how many of those do you suppose we attend in a year?"

"I couldn't rightly guess, Your Eminency."

Avaric took his first sip and masked whatever reaction he truly had well. He gave Elphaba a tight-lipped grin and told her it was rich.

Yazpik, the traitor, took pity on Avaric and inclined his chin moments before another staff member brought Avaric a small platter with sugar cubes and a little emerald encrusted glass of creamer. However, rather than accepting Yazpik's pity, Avaric continued to sip the coffee black, holding Elphaba's gaze. She permitted him a small smirk, because she was impressed, after all. Fiyero enjoyed coffee, though. Even if he preferred tea, he would drink coffee all the same. Her people would love the truly content look on Fiyero's face upon taking a sip of coffee. Avaric, on the other hand, had the carefully controlled look of a man who was carefully controlling his look.

"You've caught us at a rather inconvenient time, sir," Romen filled the silence. "Her Eminency has an audience with the Wizard today."

Avaric nodded, setting his coffee down eagerly. "It's why I requested only a moment—I hope it's no trouble that my cousin mentioned your meeting, Elphaba."

"Eminency," Elphaba and her advisors corrected in chorus. Avaric smiled apologetically. Elphaba went on, "The day is still early enough that I find myself forgiving."

"Forgiving enough to accompany me to a social event my family is hosting tonight?"

"I don't think I could be tempted even if my mood was entirely elated," Elphaba remarked, taking a sip of her coffee.

Elphaba spared a glance toward her advisors, both staring blankly at the wall opposite of them. They wouldn't dare admonish her in front of company. Naturally, she would hear about it later. They would most likely talk her ear off until she felt like burning it off with her own abnormalities. It was a small price to pay for the tested grin in place on Avaric's entitled face.

"Your abrasive invitation and nature have been noted, Master Tenmeadows. In the future, perhaps use the proper channels to see me." Elphaba rose from her chair, and the men followed suit. They bowed their heads as she left the room, muttering for the guards to slam the doors behind her.

When the doors were shut, Elphaba let out a huff and placed her hands on her hips. She stared up at the ceiling and let out a string of curses that had her guards blushing lightly. The staff at this estate weren't as prepared for her colorful outbursts as those at Colwen Grounds were accustomed to. But _honestly,_ she thought. The nerve of Avaric. It wasn't even proper for her own father or sister to show up unannounced at Colwen Grounds, not to mention a private estate in Emerald City. Avaric wasn't entitled to her time just because he was vying for the status being her husband would give him. He was no more important or worthy than Baako, Takoda, or the Quadling.

Elphaba pinched the bridge of her nose as her lady's maid appeared from a nearby room.

"Milady," her maid said, extending a rolled piece of paper with a blank seal. "A courier arrived with the carriage from the Emerald Palace."

"Thank you," Elphaba accepted the letter, "and please fetch my cloak. The common one with the hood, please."

"Of course, milady."

Her lady's maid disappeared again, and Elphaba unrolled the letter carefully, casting cautious glances at her guards before stepping a few paces away from them. It was a sketch. One of her lounging on a chaise, staring at something off paper. A fireplace, Elphaba knew. Fiyero's signature was scrawled up the curve of her neck, and she touched the place on her own physical neck with a small smile. She rolled the paper back up, holding it close to her side as she headed toward her office.

The feeling the picture initially gave her was short-lived, though. Elphaba knew Fiyero may have only committed that brief moment to memory for his later sketch; but everything Elphaba felt in that brief moment and all the ones that followed it. She remembered the heat she felt and the terror at seeing the log in the fireplace lite. And she remembered wondering if she would do the same thing to Fiyero by accident. How long would it be until she made the mistake in a public setting? Munchkinlanders were quite conservative, and she imagined they would see her lynched if they knew she had the slightest bit of magic in her.

And what would happen to Munchkinland in the case of that future? How would she be replaced? Would they prop Nessarose up as Eminency? Nessarose, Eminent Thropp. A child who could barely keep her head out of the clouds long enough to pen an essay let alone run a nation. Elphaba supposed this—Elphaba being ousted from power in some way or another—was a reason why her advisors pressed so much for a marriage and all the ridiculous expectations following it. At least a child of Elphaba's would be conditioned to take over from the moment it could properly form semi-intelligent sentences. It could carry on the programs she maintained and the legacy she hoped to leave.

But what if simply removing her from office didn't appease the Munchkins? Before Elphaba could fully develop that possibility in her mind, the sketch in her hand caught fire. She let out a strangled gasp, dropping the rolled paper away from her as to save herself from her own skirts catching fire. The sketch hit the ground, full intact without a sign it had been in flames barely seconds before. Elphaba let out a rush of breath and crouched down, holding her hand over the paper. It radiated no heat other than the warmth from her own hand. She snatched it up, looking around to ensure she was alone before running the remaining distance to her office and tossing the paper in haphazardly, firmly closing the door and double checking its locks.

Elphaba's heart was still beating rapidly as she sat across from Romen and Jin on the ride to the Emerald Palace. She wasn't entirely sure if she was still upset from whatever happened with her last accident or her audience with the Wizard.

It was a closed audience and one which all three of her advisors expected her to present the Wizard with her candidates for marriage. It was a common occurrence for marriage among or to high ranking Ozians. The Wizard, in all his dictatorial glory, had to be sure an impending match wouldn't threaten his rule. Though, Elphaba thought it prudent to remind Yazpik over a nightcap one night that, if a revolution were to occur against the Wizard, it was in the hands of the people and not two married elites. Still, it was a precaution the Wizard felt necessary, and Elphaba saw the meeting as a frivolous one. If she was being honest, she didn't have much faith the Wizard wouldn't send her on her way immediately and with a list of sanctions against Munchkinland.

But she loved Fiyero. She loved him, and she had so few things in her life that she loved. And even fewer she was allowed to love. Everything in her life, from the blend of her coffee to her posture was fixed for her, decided for her, and controlled for her. She had a world at her fingertips and could only move through a proxy or by convincing someone else that a twitch of her finger would be beneficial.

Elphaba looked over at Jin, who was watching the streets of Emerald City as they passed through. What would these past few weeks have looked like without him? Allowing Fiyero and Elphaba to steal moments of each other's time under his name. Would either of them have had the same conviction to remain in the other's company if Jin hadn't given them a small taste of what intimate nights could be like? Or would they have desired each other more without it? Built up some fantasy idea only to be disappointed by reality? Elphaba hardly believed that, though. Fiyero could want to sit inside every night for the rest of her life, and she would be content with that if only because it was Fiyero.

"Oz," she gagged lightly at her own sugary sick thoughts.

"Is everything all right, Fabala?" Jin asked quietly.

She glanced at Romen. Her flesh and blood. The man who would have to calm down the entirety of Oz if she and Fiyero eloped, even if he completely disagreed with her actions. Would he quit? Would he leave his flesh and blood despite Elphaba betraying her own?

"Just nervous, I suppose," Elphaba replied, not entirely lying.

"There's nothing to fret over," Romen promised. "You'll be in and out quickly. The Wizard is a rather agreeable man, I've heard. And the Emerald Palace is a wonder: you'll most certainly love it."

Elphaba most certainly did not love the Emerald Palace. As her carriage pulled up to the long emerald-tinted crystal staircase, Elphaba was greeted by the sight of posed Lions sitting at the foot of the grand staircase. Each neck was adorned with an emerald collar with two diamond seals of the Emerald City flanking a gold and emerald insignia of Oz. The Lions stared ahead, looking through the city before them, and most likely refrained from reacting to comments or touches from those who visited the Palace. For the quickest of seconds, Elphaba wondered if they had been trained or somehow conditioned to sit in one place for so long, but as she climbed fully out of the carriage, she noted the heavy chain around their ankles.

"Are all employees chained to their post?" Elphaba asked the staff member who had helped her from the carriage.

He took her comment as a jest and laughed as if she had just told a good-natured joke. "The Wizard is a little more civilized than to keep Animals as employees."

Romen took Elphaba's hand before she could respond and put it on his arm.

"Now is not the time," he murmured as they ascended the steps.

Jin struck up a mindless conversation with the attendants trailing them.

"Those are living creatures, Romen," Elphaba kept her voice low enough for only Romen to hear.

"Who you will be in a much better position to fight for should you not wage a war against the Wizard before stepping in front of him. Hm?"

Elphaba's jaw tightened, but she remained silent as their small group finished the trek up the ridiculous staircase. At the top, two more Lions sat. Older than the ones at the bottom. The fur around their hindquarters seemed to be affected from months, years maybe, of sitting. There was some sort of enchantment placed over them—Elphaba could _feel_ it —to hide the supposed balding and she wondered if anyone else among her noticed.

Romen cleared his throat, apparently anticipating a comment from Elphaba.

Animal Rights was one of the very few issues Elphaba had been able to impact so far in her time as Eminent Thropp. She easily found that Munchkins didn't much care what happened to Animals one way or another. So long as their own way of life was good, Munchkins were unconcerned with whether an Animal was treated more as a man or beast. Their opinion on the matter gave her a lot to work with but also a clear boundary.

First, she made it illegal for Munchkinland farmers to use Animals' labor without proper payment. It was met with mass protest, of course, as many farmers had been using Animals as animal laborers. So, in response, under the advice of Romen and his trusted financial officer, farmers were encouraged to hire Animals. They were to be given a flat tax break and a yearly subsidy which reflected the amount of Animals working on their land. Then there had to be a cap, put into place mere months after the addendum, because farmers were taking advantage of the promised subsidy and hiring any Animal who could see a foot in front of them, which put trained farmhands and other Munchkins in need of work at a disadvantage.

The current system in Munchkinland had its flukes and oddball cases, but in the years since the last addition was signed, the system worked well. Certain case-by-case issues were dealt with in audiences with Elphaba, but no law could properly prepare for every circumstance, just the majority of them. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was a start. She had Animals contributing to Munchkinland's economy, working alongside human Munchkins, and, most importantly, set the groundwork for a larger dialogue on Animals in Oz.

Her efforts seemed to be contained to Munchkinland.

"Your Eminency." A lanky man in a perfectly tailored uniform bowed as she entered the Palace. "It is a true pleasure to finally meet you." He nodded to the attendants behind her, and they headed toward a door on the far side of the room. "Our ambassadors have nothing but kind words and high praise for you each time they return from Colwen Grounds."

"Travelling among the provinces can give even the best of us a little culture shock, so I like to keep all our guests as comfortable and attended to as possible," Elphaba told the man.

"A very compassionate attitude," the man smiled and then introduced himself, but Elphaba didn't think she could pronounce it or even sound it out well enough to write down later. She would have asked him to repeat it, but she wasn't sure if it was appropriate.

The lanky man snapped his fingers, and two large Cats (a variety Elphaba had never seen before) padded through from the other side of the room. They wore the same type of collars the Lions did, but these Cats had been dressed in similar vests as the rest of the attendants Elphaba had come across at the Emerald Palace. Elphaba watched the Cats closely as they entered. She found it hard to believe these Cats were treated any better than the ones outside, and supposed anything wrong with them could be hidden by the clothes they were in. She took a deep, calming breath to steady herself.

With a flourish of his hand, the lanky man gestured to the Cats, "Your Eminency, they will escort you to the throne room. Gentlemen," he addressed Romen and Jin, "if you desire, my staff and I would love to give you a tour as Her Eminency meets with the Wizard."

Romen nodded once, "That would be most welcome."

The lanky man leads Romen and Jin away, leaving Elphaba alone in the grand foyer with the two Cats.

"May I know your names or are you forced into silence?" Elphaba quietly asked the Cats.

Neither one answered Elphaba, but the thinner of the two's tail twitched.

The Cats lead Elphaba to a large room that reminded her more of a theatre than anything else.

She was accustomed to odd throne rooms. The one in Colwen Grounds was in a room in the middle of the estate. It was sunken in with two tiers of balconies for Munchkins to attend audiences and other open-door meetings. Other than the Eminency's Chair, the room was empty with wall-to-wall dark wooden floors that met large windows to allow transparency. There was a lot of symbolism packed into one small room, and Peerless had written all of it down in one of his many journal entries.

Though the Arjiki throne room hadn't been used in decades, they too had an unusual setup. One of Fiyero's ancestors had repurposed Kiamo Ko's courtyard to serve as their throne room. A fine blue silk piece of fabric was placed and removed at the far end of the courtyard before every use and served as the 'throne'. Fiyero said Arjiki artists were brought in before the start of every season to paint the walls of the courtyard to reflect the feel. The throne room was truly unique and had appalled more than a handful of foreign dignitaries on more than one occasion.

For the life of her, though, Elphaba couldn't even imagine what the Wizard was hoping to accomplish with his throne room or the reactions of those strict emissaries.

The Cats escorted her to center stage, in front of a large, black velvet curtain, and then the two left her alone. Elphaba frowned at their hinds as they trotted off and looked around the room, stone-faced, as not to fidget or showcase the flurry of emotions she was feeling. She turned her back to the curtain and looked out at the rest of the room, the theatre. Rows of seats made up the orchestra, mezzanine, and balcony. Red carpet-lined pathways lead up to the stage, and an arc of unique candleholders hid a pit from the nonexistent audience. Boxes on the wall were closed off with dark curtains, six of them: one for each province of Oz, the Emerald City, and Ugabu—a disputed territory of Oz's with an off-again-on-again diplomatic revolution between the Wizard and the Ugabuan royal family. Maps of each were somehow glittering against the dark material, and Elphaba had to admit she was endlessly curious how the effect was happening.

She had been standing there for close to ten minutes, admiring the artwork on the ceiling and the intricate woodwork of the stage, when something spurted behind the curtain. Elphaba folded her hands in front of her as the curtain parted. Another distraction, Elphaba noted. A circular dais with inset emeralds.

"Eminent Thropp," a man said, appearing at the left side of the stage.

He was pristinely dressed in a pressed white shirt with a dark green or black overcoat. The cravat around his neck provided a background for a gold pendant hanging around his neck, the seal of Oz. His dark, though greying, hair was brushed and oiled back, and he had a clean, close cut beard. Despite the grey of the rest of his hair, he appeared to color in his eyebrows, which Elphaba thought made him look a little odd. He was the Wizard, there was no doubt in her mind, but he was rather lackluster. Elphaba wondered if it was some sort of power tactic.

"Please sit." He motioned to a chair behind Elphaba that had not been present earlier.

Elphaba remained standing.

The Wizard considered her for a moment, or maybe he was expecting a curtsey. After a few beats, the Wizard gave a small nod and ascended the dais then settled rigidly on his throne.

"I hear you're to be married, Miss Thropp," the Wizard.

"Eminent Thropp," Elphaba corrected.

"Of course," he replied though didn't correct himself.

"My advisors have asked to put up the names of four marriage candidates for your approval," Elphaba said blandly, "Your Highness."

"And those men are?"

"Unimportant," Elphaba said and shifted her weight evenly. "I won't be marrying any of them." The Wizard was quiet for a moment before beckoning for her to continue. "While upstanding, none of them are particularly well-suited to represent Munchkinland, nor would a union between them and myself be beneficial for the Emerald City, for you, Your Highness."

The Wizard crossed his legs and leaned on one of the arms of his throne.

"Beneficial to me? Tell me, Your Eminency, to this end, what sort of man would marry you?"

Elphaba couldn't stop the furrow of her brow before she remembered her diplomatic training. And rather than telling the Wizard he needed unified allies from the two most troublesome territories, Elphaba said, "Fiyero Tigelaar," with too much heat to sell her reasons as diplomatic.

"Ah," the Wizard responded softly, though not kindly. His tone reminded Elphaba of the tone Romen had often taken with her before she was sworn in as Eminent Thropp. There was an air of patronization to his _ah_. As if he was talking to a fool instead of the head of a nation. So Elphaba squared her shoulders.

"University sweethearts?" The Wizard inquired.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Perhaps not even that. A crush which your new station has given you rank to act on? Hm? Oh, well, it truly does not matter. Miss Thropp—Your Eminency, if it pleases—I am most curious to how you see this whole situation playing out. Prince Tigelaar has barely kept control over a country of Ozian dissenters. He has promised my ambassadors cohesion with Loyal Oz, but time and time again, we see bands of Winkies attacking EC caravans or officials. Ordinances placed upon the Vinkus from Emerald City go unchecked and laxly enforced. Were you aware of this?"

Elphaba did not answer.

"Then you're either blinded by your schoolgirl crush or intentionally deceiving me: neither of which I find particularly agreeable in an ally. But, I digress. So, tell me, my green girlie, how do you and the Winkie Prince plan on rallying an entire people of dissenters into supporting the Emerald City and myself, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz? Will your love unite us?" he barked out a cold laugh.

"Love is a vague concept only fools would rally behind," Elphaba retorted. "What one person loves, another loathes. The _Vinkuns_ merely crave progress and an end to the xenophobia they are met with throughout Oz. At Colwen Grounds, I fought to combat ignorance among my own people. A union with Prince Tigelaar would show the Vinkun people, from all tribes, that their sovereign aligns himself with forward-thinking people. Recognizing a marriage between myself and Prince Tigelaar, and an alliance, would sway significant numbers of Vinkuns to stand down from partaking in attacks."

"Or your people will consider you sellouts and replace you."

"Then you'd have the perfect opportunity to put your own people in power. And who knows how long they would last before Vinkuns and Munchkins call for cession."

The Wizard looked around his empty theatre while Elphaba fidgeted with the fabric at her wrist.

"I've spent ample time reviewing the changes you've made since assuming power, Your Eminency," he began. "You have a rather impressive track of not compromising; so please, allow me to give you an exercise in it: take a seat or this meeting will be a short one." The Wizard once again motioned to the seat behind her.

Elphaba glanced at the Wizard before looking back at the chair. Sighing softly, Elphaba took the chair, turned it to face the audience and resumed her previous position, standing with her hands clasped behind her back.

Something in the air crackled, and Elphaba didn't know if it was from her own doing or from this wizard sitting in front of her. It was heavy and reminded her of Colwen Grounds just before a summer storm. Beautifully terrifying occurrences she could safely watch from a window inside. Part of her wondered, if it was the Wizard manipulating the room, if he was doing so purposefully. There was hardly a soul in Oz who knew about her problem with water, though, but perhaps the wrong person knew enough right information to pass onto him. Elphaba believed she was committed enough to standing her ground, though, that she would risk a burn to prove herself.

"Hm," the Wizard muttered. "I am not an uncompromising individual, Miss Thropp. You don't liberate Oz without unwavering convictions, of course, but keeping people happy is about compromise."

"At the expense of Animals, you mean."

"Animals are not people. They're animals, and I treat them as such. The people of Oz are my concern."

Elphaba prickled, and the Wizard smiled.

"There's something about you, Your Eminency, that I rather like despite your disregard for propriety." When Elphaba felt a tinder of something tickling her palm, she clenched both hands into fists. "So let us come to a compromise.

"What makes the Emerald City's relationship with the Gillikin and Quadling Country so effortless is the understanding that the Emerald City has Oz's best interest at heart. And it does. I would sooner step down before seeing this great land fall prey to the same sins as my own homeland. Make the Emerald City's wishes your wishes, and you both have my approval and an alliance."

Fiyero would never agree to that. _She_ would never agree to that.

"My people do not benefit from this compromise. I can hardly accept a proposition that would do nothing for them."

"I would say your people have a great deal to benefit from knowing the leader of their nation won't drag them into an unnecessary dispute with the leader of all of Oz. Would you not?"

The Wizard stood, brushing off the sleeves of his coat with an uninterested look.

"I'll send the papers and the press statement to your estate here in the Emerald City. You needn't send an invitation to your nuptials. I have no interest. Good day, Miss Thropp. The cats will be back shortly to escort you out."

Elphaba could feel her heart racing as she watched the Wizard leave the throne room and the black curtain fall back into place. She didn't come here for his approval, she reminded herself over and over. It didn't matter if the Wizard didn't recognize their marriage or whether he looked favorably upon it. The Vinkus and Munchkinland would recognize it, and the rest of Oz would see it as an even bigger shame were they to divorce. They had thought this through. Fiyero had spent weeks looking over every document they had access to. Elphaba had prepared for this outcome. Well, maybe not this exact outcome. But she knew the Wizard would hardly shower his blessings and praise.

She frowned at the left side of the stage. Truthfully, though, she hadn't expected him to be like _that_. Whatever that was.

Too anxious to continue waiting, Elphaba headed back in the direction the Cats had lead her. She scoffed, passing through the door. Miss Thropp. My green girlie. He treated her as if she were some common bumpkin. Worse, she thought. Even Fiyero was given the respect of Prince Tigelaar. She slammed the next door she walked through. It was a power tactic, to be sure. Had other leaders been treated as such?

The entry room was empty save a lone attendant when Elphaba stormed in. He looked up at her, startled, and then around for anyone else.

"Your Eminency," he said with a bow, "your escorts were on their way to fetch you."

"I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself, thank you," Elphaba tried to say as evenly as she could remember. "Please send my advisors off when they return and tell them I will see them at supper."

"As you wish, Your Eminency."

Elphaba snatched her cloak from the man as soon as he fetched it, and she just managed to remember her etiquette to keep from racing out of the Emerald Palace. She stepped out of the Palace and looked over to the Lion still holding its place.

"You're more than this," she told him. "You don't deserve whatever horrors this place had subjected you to."

The Lion gave no indication that he heard or understood her, so Elphaba continued down the steps and past the ornate gate that separated the Emerald Palace from the rest of the Emerald City. She let her hair down and shook out the braids before pulling her hood and keeping her head bowed. With any luck she could make it to the Gentlemen's Club without being recognized or intercepted by Romen or Yazpik.

 _My green girlie_. Elphaba scoffed quietly, turning down an alley which connected the main street to a more secluded road to the Club. She was the damned Eminent Thropp. The highest power in Munchkinland. Leader of the East. She oversaw disputes. She approved harvests. She was responsible for the well-being of an entire people, their way of life, and all their earthly goods, needs, and desires. She may be a green girl, but she was most certainly not the Wizard's green girlie.

Elphaba made it to the Gentlemen's Club much quicker than she anticipated, and hardly anyone paid her any mind when she entered the main room. A distracted glance from the receptionist but no comment. Keeping her hood up, Elphaba untucked a solid indigo business card from where she hid it down her glove and placed it on the welcome counter. The receptionist took it and gave her a similar card with Fiyero's room number written on it in silver ink. Fiyero assured Elphaba the Gentlemen's Club was one of the safest places in the Emerald City, but Elphaba wondered how easily fooled the establishment could be if they simply handed out private room numbers in exchange for an appropriate card. What if she had forged a royal blue card? Whose room would she happen upon?

She pushed the thoughts back as she stood anxiously in the self-operated elevator in the middle of the building. Each wall of the elevator was a mirror, forcing Elphaba to stare at herself while the contraption lugged her up to the seventh floor. Her meeting with the Wizard didn't change anything, she told herself quietly. She was going to marry Fiyero. Elphaba withdrew her hood and stepped closer to her nearest image. She tucked her hair behind her ears and then ran a hand through it, rustling it a bit. Her lips were a bit chapped, and Elphaba wondered if she should wet them or if that would only make it worse. The elevator chimed before she had time to make up her mind.

Fiyero barely opened his door all the way before Elphaba pressed into the room and against him, claiming his lips and running her fingers down his cotton-clad chest to the ties of his pants. She backed him deeper into the entry way of his room at the Gentlemen's Club and kicked the door shut. With her hands still firmly on the ties of his pants, Elphaba backed them into the now shut door and wrapped her arms around his waist, firmly planting herself against him. Her mouth on his, sharing heated kisses the entire time. She just needed to feel that heat he caused to well inside her. More than _that_ heat. That breathless but secure and loved feeling that she only felt with him. Truthfully, the surprise make out session was probably not necessary to get that feeling, but she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity.

"Elphaba," Fiyero whispered against her lips when her fingers wandered underneath his shirt to find the warm skin of his back. "Do you want to talk?"

Elphaba kissed him again before replying, "I can think of much better things to do with my mouth than talk."

Like he had done the night before, Fiyero threw his head back and laughed, "Have you been taking notes from Glinda's romance novels?"

But Elphaba mind was focused. She lightly grazed her fingers over the tattoo on the left side of his neck, down to the dip of his neck and then the exposed skin where his shirt was untied. It shut him up and turned his cheerful expression into something else.

Later, when thinking about the rest of the things that happened in Fiyero's room in the Gentlemen's Club, Elphaba's heartrate would always speed up. She would forever remember the feel of the soft cotton sheets on her skin. The smell of vendors selling cinnamon roasted almonds on the street. The way her heart never seemed to leave her throat, or, at the very least, never stopped pounding in her chest. The fear that she would set Fiyero or the bed or herself on fire. But mostly, how patient and gentle Fiyero was, and how she was so very much in love with him.

In the present, though, Elphaba stared at herself in the vanity mirror while Fiyero looked for appropriate clothes to wear in public. She tried to convince herself there was something different about her appearance, but on the surface she was looking at the same person she stared at this morning. She was being ridiculous, she thought, turning away from the mirror. Elphaba stole one last glance at her reflection before dropping heavily onto the armchair nearby Fiyero. Why couldn't they just hideaway in the room until the Wizard croaked or a coup ousted him from power?

"Are you okay?" Fiyero asked, pulling her attention from a small box on his nightstand.

Elphaba sighed.

"Fae."

"The Wizard offered us conditional support."

"Oh?" he half turned to her, without a shirt on, and Elphaba's mind blanked for a moment.

"Make Emerald City's wishes our wishes."

Fiyero scoffed, "Ridiculous."

"I thought as much."

Fiyero finished dressing before sitting on the edge of his bed.

"The meeting was just to cover our bases anyway. It's not against the law for us to marry, and once it happens, there's nothing he can do." He offered his hand, and Elphaba rolled her eyes lightly but took it was a small smile. "Come on," Fiyero said and pulled up both up, "I've got a few errands to run, and you should check on Glinda."

After tucking back her hair into something presentable, Fiyero helped Elphaba button up her dress. She felt the back of her neck heat up as Fiyero stared down at her and the feel of his breath so close to her skin. Glinda would go crazy if someone wrote this in a book for her, Elphaba thought.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Fiyero told her, coming around to face her.

Elphaba nodded, "Just be careful today. The Wizard has eyes and ears all over, and we're willingly crossing him."

"He won't do any real damage," Fiyero assured her with a chuckle. "Even he wouldn't dare. Why should I keep myself so safe?"

"I love you."

"So that's that then, and that's it. And I love you. So I promise to be careful," he said, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip before kissing her.

Elphaba moaned lightly, savoring Fiyero's long and tender kiss. She was kissing the man she'd marry in a few hours, and there was something invigorating about it. And something completely wicked about it. The sneaking around and quick elopement, but she was content with it. Not every love story had to be fairytale. She and Fiyero weren't fairytale individuals, and it would be silly for them to expect an engagement and wedding to mimic that. So she was happy with what they were doing, as long as it meant marrying Fiyero. If it meant she got to kiss Fiyero for the rest of her life.

Fiyero broke the kiss first, but didn't pull away when Elphaba gave him one last chaste kiss.

Glinda's family's estate was a halfway point between the Gentlemen's Club and the Eminent Thropp's residence. It took up most of a block, and the Uplands had purchased the homes immediately surrounding the estate for a bit more privacy. Their staff were permitted to stay in the houses so long as they remained loyal to the Uplands and performed their duties to the highest degree. Glinda said her family had also been known to put up travelers from time to time, but mostly in unbearable weather.

When Elphaba approached the wrought iron fence, she could see Glinda sitting on the front porch, reading something. Elphaba dropped her hood and assumed a more regal stance when addressing the guard at the gate.

Glinda frowned as one of the guards escorted Elphaba up to the estate. Neither said anything until Glinda dismissed the man back to his station.

"I don't like the look on your face."

"This is how I always look," Elphaba responded.

"You look like a kicked puppy."

"I do _not_."

"Poppa sent a letter to your estate not too long ago, saying how truly honored he is to have a grandchild being considered for marriage." Glinda looked at Elphaba critically. "I take it the Wonderful Wizard didn't find your idea for marriage too wonderful?"

Elphaba didn't answer the question. Instead, she told her, "There's a clearing in a small grove at the edge of the poppy field. We'll meet Fiyero there just after nightfall."

"Elphaba…"

"You're certain the officiate is still in the dark?"

"Of course I am. He thinks he's there for two silly kids from competing farms. I'll let him know the location," Glinda added, snapping her book shut. "Elphie, you know this is going to get a lot worse before anything simmers down, right?" Elphaba rolled her eyes. "In all seriousness, though, Elphie. Vinkuns and Munchkins both have wedding rituals they hold in high regard, and for the heads of their nations to forgo them in some fit of passion? Some may find it romantic, but a whole lotta Ozians are going to be upset."

"I would rather wear the weather with Fiyero than be stuck in a marriage with someone who brings a new person to bed every night. And then be expected to produce an heir with him? I have more respect for myself than that," she snapped quietly.

"It's not about you, Elphaba Thropp: it's about your people."

"My people will benefit greatly from a strong alliance with the Vinkun Crowned Prince than a nineteenth in line noble from the Gillikin."

Glinda huffed as she stood, but she put a hand on Elphaba elbow. "I wish you would consider this some more. You have some time before your advisors are pushing you to accept anything."

Elphaba pulled at her sleeve and glanced around.

"I'm worried if I take some time to consider it, I'll change my mind or get swept up in promises people here may make that I lose sight of my own convictions."

"Whatever you decide, I'll be there. In celebration or frustration, we'll deplete the Emerald City's stock of green wine!"

Elphaba didn't have any doubts about marrying Fiyero. She had never been so sure of anything in her personal life, she thought later as she sat with her advisors. Romen was talking about some ridiculous Gillikinese elite sending an even more ridiculous proposition about two goats, a gaggle of geese, and his late mother's ring. Elphaba zoned out after the first page of the letter and thought about what the Wizard had said about his relationship with the Gillikin. It made her question how much of the policies in the Gillikin came from the Archduchess and how much came from the Wizard. Which lead to Elphaba doubling down on her decision to skirt around and marry Fiyero. Even if there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind.

Did she appear too distracted? she wondered, jolting herself out of her thoughts. Elphaba glanced around the table. Romen was on the last page of the long letter. His brow was furrowed, and the line of his mouth was growing thinner. Jin was staring at him blankly, most likely lost in his own thoughts. He didn't care much for Romen's reports. They were always full of too many false niceties and ill-meaning well-wishes. Yazpik was the only one who seemed remotely interested in what Romen was saying. He jotted down notes nonstop from the moment Romen read the salutation. But that's what Yazpik did. He saw things the rest of them didn't. She imagined he already knew her meeting with the Wizard went poorly. Though, Elphaba wondered along what lines Yazpik thought the meeting went sour Elphaba had merely gone to present her candidates.

"Well now," Romen cleared his throat as he set the letter down, "that was certainly enthusiastic."

"Please tell me that letter is tinder for the fire," Jin said.

"He'd spill state secrets before they'd sign the marriage certificate," Yazpik piped in.

"Him attending a dinner party would surely be my worst nightmare come to life."

"The Munchkins would turn him into a continuous political cartoon."

Romen frowned at the other two. "Your objections are noted, sirs." Jin chuckled softly before her grandfather went on, "Now, to the matter of Master Tenmeadows' invitation."

"There is no matter," Elphaba spoke up. "I won't be attending."

"The Tenmeadows are important allies to have," Romen told her. "With how frequently alliances shift in the summer, a denial of this invitation could be seen as a dismissal of the family itself."

"I will not be attending the Tenmeadows' ballyhoo," Elphaba repeated. "If Avaric is one of the men I could end up saddled with, I'm sure his family understands I'm not dismissing them. You all are forcing my hand in this marriage business, the least you can do is afford me one missed social event."

"You can't use that excuse for the remainder of the summer," Yazpik responded.

"I can, and I will continue to do so. If it makes you feel better, I'll come up with more creative ways to express my discontent."

"You can have tonight, and we invite the Tenmeadows to dine next week," Romen offered.

"Fine," Elphaba consented with a grin.

"You received a bulk of letters from your father and some of the mayors in Munchkinland, should you wish to tackle some of them this evening," Romen said as the three of them stood with Elphaba.

"Very well," she replied. "After you write to the Tenmeadows, please make sure to contact Bfee in Rush Margins. I didn't see his planting season report, and I want to ensure the fall's harvest has the possibility of yielding what we were promised last year."

"Of course, Your Eminency." Romen bowed and took his leave.

"Yazpik, I was thinking about meeting with the Archduchess of the Gillikin—"

"This sounds like something Romen ought to handle, Eminency."

"I hardly want to go in empty handed." Yazpik raised his brows slightly. "I just want to know what she was like before assuming power. What the early years of her reign were like. More than what I can get in diplomatic briefings or books."

"Her early reign? You mean to say before the Wizard?"

Elphaba shrugged, and Yazpik nodded, quickly and quietly heading out of the room as Jin and Elphaba slowly trailed behind.

"Shall I expect to take tea with you tonight, Your Eminency?" Jin asked.

She grinned, patting his arm lightly, "No, not tonight. Thank you, though."

Jin walked Elphaba back to her office in relative silence. He relayed some message from her father that would not be included in official letters—a personal affirmation of his love and support that Elphaba didn't realize how much she needed to hear. She felt dazed at times. Among all the pomp and circumstance, the fake smiles, and backhanded compliments. Her father always had a way of reminding her that she was still Elphaba Thropp. A green girl from Rush Margins who grew up among the people she now lead.

His letter was the first she read when she was alone in her office. It was nothing more than a report that what was happening at the Colwen Grounds Estate. The staff were incredibly kind and welcoming. The kitchen staff used him to experiment with new cuisine, which he loved. The cleaning staff were so quick and efficient that he never even saw them, just noticed how sparkling each room was at any moment of the day. The grounds staff were out at all times of the day, tending to every little thing. Half of the floor staffed thoroughly enjoyed having him and Nessarose around, and he was convinced the other half preferred Elphaba's company. Everything was going smoothly, and Colwen Grounds anxiously awaited her return.

The letter was to-the-point, but she could hear her father reading it. His unique inflection that she was never sure where he picked up. The matter-of-fact tone he would take when reading lists—which the letter tended to sound like—sounded in her mind as she skimmed the letter again and again.

Elphaba frowned at the rest of the letters setting on her desk. She would probably skim through them, but she had no desire to do anything more. She had a good, what? Four or five hours before sundown? Tossing her father's letter aside, Elphaba groaned. What was she supposed to do for four or five hours? She should have invited Glinda to spend the day at the estate. Elphaba glanced at the letters again. Those would easily take her two hours. She wouldn't. She would take a half an hour to skim them all. Though, maybe the backlash from Romen would be less explosive if she actually did that work before running off.

She picked up the first letter off the pile, broke the seal, and started reading the first line. Greeting. Hoping that her summer season has been off to a good start. Wishing her the best of luck with all the responsibilities she needed to tend to in the Emerald City. Wise crack about how she must be missing Munchkinland.

"Oz," Elphaba muttered, dropping the letter back on the stack. All of them would follow the same way.

Instead of doing what she should have, Elphaba opted to return to a mirror. She turned her head from side to side, scrutinizing her neck. Part of her was worried there was a mark somewhere on it, and another part of her wanted there to be a mark. Nothing was there, though. Just her green skin and the strands of hair that were too short to fit into her pinned up braid.

There wouldn't be any harm in cleaning up, Elphaba thought. She could always blame it on the heat. She felt sticky and warm. The humidity made her feel gross, and she didn't want to go the rest of the day feeling like she was a walking swamp.

Bathing was one of the only tasks she was allowed to do on her own. It had sparked some rather ridiculous rumors about her private parts, but Elphaba would always take those with a grain of salt. As much as she trusted her lady's maid, it was easier and safer for Elphaba to take care of herself. It was bad for business to have a leader who could easily be crippled with a glass of water. Yazpik and Romen went through great lengths to keep her problem with water hidden, and allowing her to do her own bathing was one of those. Elphaba thought her lady's maid assumed she was bashful, or maybe she was a fool and thought Elphaba wasn't entirely biologically female. It hardly mattered.

Glinda arrived, unannounced but welcomed by Yazpik, while Elphaba was flipping through a book on Vinkun politics. The last few traces of Elphaba's oil bath finished drying, and Elphaba was hardly sure what she would have done to fight boredom had it not been for her friend. She could hear Glinda and her spymaster discussing the Tenmeadows' social event, and Glinda told Yazpik she hoped to goad Elphaba into attending. Though she couldn't see him, Elphaba could only imagine the look on Yazpik's face. Here, in the Emerald City, a surprise appearance would be the talk of the town in the most advantageous way. Yazpik loved it when nobles started gossiping. Especially when an Eminent of Munchkinland was visiting a simple noble family. A stark contrast to Munchkinland where an unannounced guest would be scandalous.

Yazpik knocked firmly on Elphaba's door three times, as he always knocked, and Elphaba granted her permission for them to enter. She looked up from the book balanced on her knees where she sat on a small bench in front of the largest of her windows.

"Lady Glinda Upland," Yazpik announced. "Shall I have Romen draft a letter to the Uplands on your unexpected visitor policy?"

Glinda giggled and swatted Yazpik's arm lightly.

"Your talents are wasted here, Yazpik," Elphaba commented. "You should have been a comedian."

"Yes, Your Eminency," Yazpik responded with a ghost of a grin.

His eyes settled briefly on her shabby cloak draped beside her fine dress from the morning and then to the oils on her vanity. For a moment Elphaba felt a pang of worry. She thought she should say something to justify whatever Yazpik was seeing, but Elphaba figured that would make her look more suspicious. If Yazpik saw anything, it was poor style choices and a way to relax.

"Have you made any headway in that research I wanted?" Elphaba asked Yazpik.

"Naturally," he said, straightening up and glancing at Glinda as she settled beside Elphaba. "I was on my way out when Miss Upland arrived."

"How positively lucky I was then," Glinda chirped and smiled brightly at him.

"I believe the fortune is mine," Yazpik replied and nodded before leaving Elphaba and Glinda alone.

"I think he's growing quite taken with me," Glinda snickered.

"Yazpik doesn't like or see people. He may be looking at you, but he's seeing hundreds of different ways to take a person down with their own words and secrets."

"Oh, please, Elphie," Glinda huffed. "He cares more than anyone else on your staff. I'd bet my entire world on it." Then she clapped her hands together and fixed Elphaba with a wicked grin.

Glinda grabbed the book away from Elphaba and pushed her feet off the bench. She began offering hairstyle suggestions at rapid fire speed that Elphaba almost made the mistake of agreeing with her. Did she want an up-do? There was a slight breeze out, so perhaps something half up/half-down? But a light breeze could romantically tousle her hair in the wind. But if the light breeze picked up, Elphaba's long hair would whip Fiyero in the face or hide her own face. An up-do was probably best, Glinda had decided, but Elphaba mentioned Fiyero liked the smell of her hair. Then Glinda fixed Elphaba was a withering glare before the look softened, and she was merely looking Elphaba over.

"I suppose I'm jumping ahead of myself," Glinda decided. "I need to see what you're wearing first."

Elphaba humored Glinda's frantic running back and forth from her dressing room. Her hair. The shoes. The dress. Whether her face was painted. How much scent she put on. They were all little things. Things Elphaba would forget with time. None of them particularly mattered to her. She could marry Fiyero in a burlap sack, and Elphaba would still be perfectly happy. But the process meant something to Glinda, so Elphaba smiled and allowed Glinda to fuss over her. The compromise was that Elphaba could scan through old treaties she'd been meaning to look at as Glinda went about her business.

The Emerald Palace was built in such a way that you could see the tallest spire from every corner of the Emerald City. A constant reminder to every Ozian that the Wizard's gaze was far and wide. The Estate of the Eminent Thropp was the furthest residence—of those who had a residence in the City—from the Palace. But when the setting sun hit the tallest spire just right, its reflection could be seen in the large windows Elphaba's ancestors had put in. Elphaba's superstitious staff members believed that it was an ill omen not to be able to see the spire reflected despite a burning dusk sun. Peerless, on the other hand, firmly believed it was worse luck to clearly see the spire. He wrote extensively about it in some of his journals. Elphaba thought they were all silly. Bored Munchkins filling their time and heads with wish wash.

Elphaba stared at the reflection of the Palace spire in the window of a cheap carriage Glinda flagged down. Glinda had taken two long, light teal cloaks from her mother's wardrobe for them to use. All of the cloaks Elphaba owned were various shades of black, or at least a very dark grey, and Glinda had managed to convince her no one would think twice to look for her wearing bright colors. She had been worried about standing out with the ridiculous color. But, looking at the people their carriage passed, Elphaba was hardly an eyesore. The light teal wasn't even that ostentatious compared to what others were wearing. She and Glinda just looked like every other Ozian in Emerald City. Well, so long as she kept her head down and hands tucked into her gloves.

"This is fine," Glinda told the driver when they reached the edge of a poppy field. She passed the driver a small but heavy coin purse as Elphaba climbed out of the rickety carriage.

The edge of the poppy field was well within sight, and Elphaba's stomach twisted into knots that hadn't been present all day. This was it. She was actually doing this. She was snubbing the Wizard and risking public relations. At least for a time. Ozian leaders had weathered worse storms, and so would she and Fiyero.

Fiyero. A slow smile crept over Elphaba's face as she pictured him standing in their decided upon spot. Was he as nervous as she suddenly was? Was he sure about marrying her? Did he feel like she was pressuring him into this? Was she pressuring him into this? Elphaba's smile fell. Hell, she hadn't even been sure how he'd felt about her until recently. She could even put words to how she felt for him until more recently. Was she rushing this just to dodge a marriage to someone else? What if her feelings for Fiyero were just convenient?

"Stop it, Elphie," Glinda light chided as the carriage drove away. Elphaba blinked and frowned over at her. "I can see those wheels of yours turning in the wrong direction."

"You don't think I'm rushing into this?"

"Well, of course I think you're rushing," Glinda said and motioned for them to head on. "But, like I told you, I'll support you."

"I can't help but feel like I'm twisting his arm into this."

Glinda barked out a laugh.

"Fiyero loves you, Elphie, and he wouldn't do this if he wasn't absolutely certain," she said as she ducked down for a second and pulled some poppies to create a makeshift bouquet. Glinda threw her arms around Elphaba in a tight hug before breaking and giving her the bunch. "Besides," she added and continued on through the field, "he wouldn't do this if he thought it would do damage to his responsibilities to his people."

"I just…" Elphaba trailed off for a moment. "I just don't want him to wake up one morning and realize I'm not the one he wants to wake up every morning next to."

"I don't think that will happen. I very much doubt it," Glinda responded with smirk. "Though, on the very small chance it does happen, set him up in that one room on the far side of the estate. The one that has the perfect view of that awful looking scarecrow. That's what he can wake up to every morning instead."

Elphaba snorted.

"Do _you_ want to do this?" Glinda asked as they neared the edge of the field. The sun had set, and a small breeze rustled the poppies and caused the tree leaves to shake softly. But it felt good on Elphaba's heated skin, and she tried to focus on the cool feeling instead of the nerves working up a storm in her. "We can turn back now, you know."

"No," Elphaba answered quickly. She repeated, "No, I'm sure. I'm sure about him."

There was a small line of leafless trees that separated the poppy field from the grove where Fiyero would be waiting. There wasn't anything special about the meeting spot. Just a group of trees each of them had seen time and time again from entering the Emerald City through the Munchkin Mousehole. A normal grove, but one where Elphaba could say 'nearby the tree that Owl reads a book in' and have Fiyero know which one she was referring to. When she and Glinda cleared the line of trees, Elphaba pinpointed the group of trees she where she and Fiyero agreed to meet.

A tall figure stood in the grove beneath the bright night sky, but it wasn't Fiyero. Elphaba's hand slacked, but she didn't drop the bouquet of poppies. She stilled, though, and her mind tried to reason though all the scenarios it was capable of coming up within the short amount of time it took for the figure to see her. She felt so visible suddenly. So put on the spot. So very much like she shouldn't have been there. Vulnerable.

Did something happen to Fiyero? Was he hurt? Had he been cautious like she wanted? Elphaba frowned when she caught sight of her spymaster's familiar scarred face. Did Yazpik do something to him? He was a shrewd man, but Elphaba highly doubted Yazpik would do anything to hurt someone Elphaba cared for. Hurting Fiyero wouldn't benefit Yazpik or the Eminency in any way. But he was standing there instead of Fiyero. He was standing there, and Elphaba had to bite back the bile rising in her throat and clench her teeth to hold in the tears that were stinging the back of her eyes.

"Elphie…" Glinda whispered, grabbing for her free hand. Elphaba quickly pulled it away and clenched her hand into a fist behind her back. She dug her nails into the skin there to keep her emotions from getting the better of her.

"Elphaba," he started and corrected himself, "Your Eminency." Yazpik's voice was even, not betraying whatever he was really thinking or feeling. Yazpik nodded to three cloaked but not hooded figures standing just off to the side with someone Elphaba didn't know. One of the cloaked men Elphaba recognized as the estate staff who took her cloak when she returned from her business in the City. The woman beside him was the one who set up Elphaba's oils in her room. "My men will escort you back to the summer estate."

"Glinda and I are out on a night stroll," Elphaba lied. She wondered how her voice sounded to him. If she managed to keep it even, but Yazpik's expression remained neutral.

"We can talk about it later."

"I have nothing to say," Elphaba said. She pushed her hood down with the hand that held the poppies. "I don't need to justify a walk with my best friend. Or are those restricted as well?"

Yazpik looked at her pitifully, and Elphaba truly wanted nothing more than to lash out at him for the look alone.

"You're unchaperoned and went to great lengths—as I understand it—to remain unchaperoned. Then," he glanced over at his men, "this man."

"You expect me to have an explanation for every person wishing to take a night stroll?" Elphaba bit.

"I expect you to return to the summer estate as other parties have returned to their rightful homes," Yazpik told her in a tone she had only seen him carry once by accident with a Munchkin diplomat being too careless with someone's personal secrets. "Miss Upland, please allow me to pay for a carriage back to the City."

"I won't, I'm sorry," Glinda replied softly, grabbing Elphaba's sleeve and then squeezing her arm reassuringly.

"Don't be silly, Glinda," Elphaba said. "It's getting chilly. You should get home before it gets too cold."

"Elphie…"

Elphaba shook her head and shrugged her arm out of Glinda's grip. Glinda turned a critical eye on Yazpik but otherwise remained silent as one of Yazpik's men came forward to escort her home. Yazpik watched Glinda and his man retreat until he and Elphaba could no longer hear their footsteps. Then Yazpik produced a card and a small but neatly wrapped box from his vest. He passed the card to Elphaba, who bit the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face but looked over at Yazpik's men. It was the card to Fiyero's room at the Gentlemen's Club. Had she dropped it on the street? Or had one of his men lifted it from her cloak when she wasn't paying attention. Then Elphaba took the box. She glanced at Yazpik before opening the box. A black silk scarf with red roses embroidered on it. Elphaba ran her fingers over the fabric and snapped the top back on.

"Yazpik," Elphaba started, but he cut her off.

"There is no loophole, Fabala," he said quietly. Gently, even. "The Wizard would do everything in his power to make life for Munchkins and Vinkuns impossible. It's of no consequence to him. Would you put your people at such risk for something so passion-driven?"

"Okay," Elphaba muttered after Yazpik granted her some moments of quiet.

"Your secrets are my secrets," Yazpik responded. He cleared his throat and added, "I have business in the Vinkus but will be at Colwen Grounds when you return."

Elphaba nodded, keeping her gaze fixed on his shoulder, but understanding the look she could feel fixed on her. "Safe travels, Yazpik."

He inclined his head, and the two remaining men approached. "Ensure Her Eminency makes it safely back to her summer estate. You escorted her on a nighttime stroll."

The two cloaked figures nodded once and bowed to Elphaba. She scowled at them and bid Yazpik safe travels once again.

Yazpik crossed his arms over his chest and kicked the ground at his feet, commenting, "Perhaps, Your Eminency, Master Romen could arrange a last minute carriage to take you to the Tenmeadows' social. I'm sure Master Tenmeadows would find a visit from you pleasing."

Elphaba stared at his retreating back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the carriage carrying him to the Vinkus, but the night darkened and whatever was to happen next was waiting for her in the Emerald City.

* * *

 **I'm sorrrryyyy.**

 **I was going to leave what happens next open to your personal interpretation; but then I remembered I'm writing an epilogue-so you all get to see _my_ interpretation. I have no idea when I will start writing it or when I'll finish it, but the current plot is there in my head.**

 **Leave some love?**


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